The Power of Corruption
by Kit the Fiendish Fire Cat
Summary: They say that power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely...So what does that mean for a child's heart, something so easily corrupted, when confronted with a being of 'Absolute Power? Especially when that Being uses the child's own desires against him? Warning: Character Deaths reside within this AU story. No 'Lemons' though.
1. Beginning of the Fall Revised

**The Power of Corruption:**

They say that power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely...So what does that mean for the innocent heart of a child? Something that can be so easily corrupted?

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Naruto. The name "Reiko Inoue" I'll put claim forward to. Since I spent like two hours making that name (Wanted to find Meanings I liked). The name and name alone are all I claim. The character I've Modeled Reiko from does NOT belong to me and is, in fact, owned by Kishimoto.

AN: **This is a rewrite of the first chapter. This Rewrite will likely get rewritten again at a later point.** **REWRITES OF CHAPTERS 2, 3, 4, AND 5 WILL BE COMING SOON! TO FIX CONTINUITY ERRORS THAT MY CHAPTER 1 REWRITE HAS UNINTENTIONALLY CAUSED!**

**Now, you have to understand that I'm not completely happy about my rewrite.** I don't really like it but…it functions infinitely better then how I first had started my story out…since the majority of my readers didn't like how I paced things. I wanted to reveal things **slowly**…like a puzzle coming slowly into place…but due to mounting requests, I caved and put in a sloppy Flashback in Ch.5…that Flashback now takes the form of the first part of Chapter one…and goes into some minor details about why "it" occurred.

* * *

**4 Years after the Sealing of the Kyuubi: The Prologue (Chapter 5 Flashback replacement)**

Being four years old should've been a fun time for a child. At that age, a child should be innocent to the Worlds darker side. At that age…their life should've been full of laughter and happiness from playing with their friends and family…but for one particular whisker marked boy that wasn't the case. Having no friends or family, he had to find his own ways of keeping his young, active four year old mind occupied.

The circumstances of his birth had left a huge stigma on him due to a mistake on the Hokages' part. A Life of joy and happiness was shattered when a Secret was revealed to the public. The parent's of the newest generation, having survived the horrors of the Kyuubi's assault on Konoha didn't want their children around the young blond, whisker marked boy for they all knew "what" he was.

Naruto often over heard people talking about him, calling him bad names in front of their children, and saying that they couldn't play with him because he was a very bad child; the worst of the worst. It left poor little Naruto in tears many nights in a row due to the constant rejection by his fellow age group. Even the children at the Orphanage he lived at were told to stay away from him by the caretakers. The caretakers at the Orphanage never directly physically or mentally abused Naruto as they knew they would get found out and potentially lose their jobs, or worse, so they had the other children stay away from him.

Left to his own devices, without any friends, Naruto took to exploring the streets of Konoha as the Orphanages caretakers were suspiciously lax when it came to watching over him. He explored every little nook and cranny he could find for places to either hide in or hide things in. The places her looked for were places where he believed people wouldn't be very inclined to look at or into.

Naruto never noticed his silent protectors, an ANBU squad, keeping pace with him on the roof tops, whenever to took to exploring the streets. Naruto always wondered why people would whisper so many nasty things about him and yet…no one really tried to bully him. The few people that were brazen enough to come up to him to either strike him or yelled at him were always stopped by some random "Kind Person," at least that's what they were in Naruto's eyes, would always come in and stop the person.

This made the young Naruto look up to those kind people that stood up for him whenever he was about to get into trouble but he never got the opportunity to thank them before they disappeared leading him to believe, correctly but unknowingly, that those people had to be Ninja as he could never follow them as they seemingly always vanished into thin air.

It was during one of Naruto's explorations of Konoha that he had a fateful encounter that would change his life forever. Naruto…idolized the Ninja and the Military Police that protected Konoha and wanted to be just like them…and since Ninja often used the Roofs to travel quickly, little Naruto wanted to do that as well, not understanding that it takes Chakra and months of training to do such a thing.

Naruto, ever determined and stubborn even at such a young age, climbed up the side of a building, using a circular downspout as a make shift ladder as he climbed higher and higher until he made it to the roof of a building. It was only one story high but it was the highest he had ever been at that point and he discovered that he liked looking down at everything. Everything seemed a little different with added height! He took the time to simply look around the street he was on, surrounded mostly by taller buildings, he couldn't really see more of the village but now…now he knew that the higher he was the more he could see…and he knew what the highest point in the Village was. The Hokage Monument.

It then sparked in his head that he should roof travel to the Monument like the Ninja's he so idolized! Walking over to the edge of the building, he looked down and gulped in fear. It looked so high up and that…that almost stopped him right then and there. Almost made him crawl back down that downspout and be safely back on the ground again but then he told himself that Ninja were fearless! And Ninja's roof jumped every day!

Naruto balled his hands into fists and scrunched up his face, his spirit full of determination to roof jump. He stormed away from the edge of the building to get a running start but not before taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Okay! Here I go!" He cried out as he ran as fast as his small legs would carry him and pushed off the edge of the roof. He thought it would work. He thought he could make it to the other roof. He thought wrong.

The blond haired spitfire seemed to float in the air for a few moments before coming crashing down into the alley which sported the downspout he had climbed up. Time seemed to slow down for him as he watched himself falling, getting closer and closer to the ground as fear and the sense of failure flooded his small frame.

And with a loud crack…he hit the ground. His entire body was in pain but it didn't feel _that_ bad, not at first. He thought he had simply bumped his head really hard since his head throbbed in pain and felt 'fuzzy' on the inside before feeling something warm trickling down his face. Slowly, he dragged his right hand up to his hand to rub the warm wetness off his face and, much to his horror, discovered it was blood. His blood. Apparently he had hit his head on his way down.

In a Panic, he tried to get up, tried pushing himself off the ground with his left hand only to scream out as a new wave of pain coursed through him forcing him to look at his left arm and why it hurt so much. His forearm was hanging at an odd angle, having broken from the fall. Being one always full of determination, he tried to stand once again, using his right arm this time. He succeeded in pushing himself to his feet and even walking a few feet while gritting his teeth as each step he took seemed to only hurt more and more.

And that's when it happened. His right leg had suffered two serious fractures from his fall and the weight and the strain of walking cause those fractures to turn into breaks. Naruto fell to the ground once again; his head hitting the pavement with a sickening wet sounding crunch and the world quickly fell into darkness. The last thing he saw was the Black robes of the ANBU surrounding him and then a soft green glow that eased a little of his pain. He could hear them shouting but couldn't make out what they were saying before he slipped into unconsciousness.

"**You…You really did a number on yourself didn't you, Kit?"** He heard from…within the blackness. It was a woman's voice…soft yet firm, full of gentle caring and the harshness of a razors edge, beautiful, in other words.

"**I didn't think…we'd get to meet so soon…and I'm **_**sorry**_** we had to meet like this…"** The voice sounded honestly apologetic as it echoed from within the blackness.

"**Well…are you going to open your eyes…? I…I would like to see you…and I would like for you to see me too…That way…I can apologize to you…"** Naruto noticed that the voice grew weaker and weaker. Not really quieter just…losing its warmth, losing its strength to give into nothing but raw sadness. The woman that was talking in the darkness seemed so strong when he first heard her voice that the sadness in her voice seemed wrong to him, like it shouldn't be there and he knew he was the cause of it because he wouldn't open his eyes.

It took him a few moments to notice it but…the pain was…away. It wasn't at the forefront of his mind anymore. He still ached but it wasn't debilitating, it wasn't causing him to grit his teeth anymore and that's when he noticed he was laying in water.

"Nngh…" He groaned as he hesitantly pushed himself up out of the water, worried about a repeat of the last time he tried to get up. "W-w-where…am I?" He stammered in fear as he looked around the stone work tunnels filled with water.

"**You're here…inside yourself. Sort of. Now please…come here…and…and I'll answer your questions…and apologize" **Some of the warmth and strength in the woman's voice returned and it wasn't long after she spoke that he saw a faint red glow coming from one of the tunnels, beckoning him to go there. So he headed the call, figuring that's where the warm, strong sounding woman had to be.

He wasn't disappointed.

Behind a giant cage like door, the largest door he had even seen, was a woman dressed in a black kimono with blood red hair and eyes to match. Just like her voice, she seemed gentle sitting there on her knees yet strong at the same time with how poised she seemed to be. A small smile graced her ruby colored lips as Naruto walked into the area.

"**Hello, Kit…" **The woman spoke softly as she rose from her knees in order to walk towards the massive barred door separating them. The bars were so widely spaced that it looked like the woman should've been able to easily walk out between them. **"I'm…glad I have the chance to talk to you…face to face…"** Her voice hiccupped as she spoke, the way a person hiccups when they're trying to speak while on the verge of tears.

"A-Are you…okay?" Naruto hesitantly asked the redheaded woman. She shook her head and raised her right hand up to her face, part of her kimonos sleeve gripped in it as she rubbed her eyes. **"Yes…and no…I've…hurt you, Kit…and I didn't mean to…because of me…everyone hates you. **_**I**_** am the so called 'demon' they speak of…And I am sorry!"** She cried out, her right hand shielding her face as her body was wracked from her sobs.

"**I cannot ask you to forgive me for what has been done to you when the Fourth Hokage died to seal me inside of you...but…if there is any way I can make it up to you…please…! Please let me!"** The redheaded woman begged as she buried her face into her kimono covered hands.

Naruto watched, scared, as the woman broke down in front of him. He didn't know what to do, didn't know how to handle a crying girl so…he did the only thing he could do and that was to listen to the words in which she spoke. And those words confused him. She didn't look like a demon, that was for sure…but then her mentioning the Fourth Hokage dying to seal _her_. He knew the tales about The Fourth Hokage and how he died to stop the Kyuubi…if what this woman was saying was true…

"Y-you're the…the Kyuubi!" He screamed and stumbled backwards onto his butt, splashing down on the water covered ground. The woman had looked up with puffy red, tear stained eyes, to look at Naruto as he spoke. He felt instantly bad at his reaction for the woman's wails grew louder and louder as she clutched herself tightly in an effort to make herself even smaller, to hide herself from his fearful gaze.

"**Y-yes…I am…the being you call "Kyuubi"…" **The Kyuubi whimpered as she slowly crawled off the massive door before letting her back slide down against its massive frame, effectively hiding her from Naruto's eyes.

The slow pathetic action felt like a cold hard knife stabbing Naruto through the chest. The woman…no, the Kyuubi looked so very broken as she slide off the bottom of the caged door to hide herself. Nothing like the stories he had heard about the Kyuubi. He had heard some stories about in passing, how the Kyuubi was this massive beast, many stories high, with Nine long tails capable of creating natural disasters with just a flick of one of its tails and how the Fourth Hokage, the Greatest Ninja to ever live, had defeated it at the cost of his own life. The woman before him…looked nothing like a towering fox ready to bring forth destruction. No one who cried that much or pleaded that much for redemption could be evil like the stories said.

He also realized that he did the same thing to her that the people of Konoha were doing to him. Judging without knowing…and that made him feel very, very ashamed. "I…I'm sorry…the stories…said you were a bad monster…and the name 'Kyuubi' is…is…a bad thing, very bad thing…" Naruto stammered apologetically.

"**Don't apologize to me…it's my fault for your suffering…but…I will help if you let me…I want to make amends, I want to make it up to you…" **The Kyuubi spoke softly from behind the bottom frame of the door. **"I'll be here for you…to listen to everything you have to say…and answer whatever questions you wish to ask of me…"**

And for the next couple of years, Naruto spent as much time 'within' himself as he could in order to better know the woman who called herself the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi listened to Naruto, answered his questions to the best of her abilities or giving Naruto the age old answer of "I'll tell you when you're older." She even gave him guidance when he sought it, gently steering him in the directions he needed to go in order to best achieve his goal of recognition. Some of the guidance the Kyuubi gave him was for him to start acting a little better, to be more polite and to cut down on his mischievousness as it was best to set a good impression while he was still young. And Naruto listened.

Unfortunately, the Kyuubi eventually brought a horrible issue to Naruto's attention. The people of Konoha were seemingly becoming even more hostile to him when he tried acting up less and being more polite as it appeared that they believed it was simply the "demon" trying to trick them by acting like a fairly good little child. Naruto didn't want to believe the Kyuubi at first but he eventually began to pay more and more attention to the people and realized what she (the Kyuubi) had said was all too true.

Naruto begged the Kyuubi to tell him how he could change the minds of the people; to get them to see him in a better light…but the Kyuubi was silent. Again and again Naruto asked the very knowledgeable Kyuubi what could be done to get him the recognition he wanted…and eventually he got an answer from her but getting her to actually tell him without 'beating around the bush' proved to be a monumental task. She kept telling him that the easiest method he could think of to gain the acknowledgement he wanted was NOT the best way to do it. She kept trying to stall under the guise of attempting to think up a better way but she had hinted to a viable path to the acknowledgement he sought…and he wanted to hear it.

Eventually Naruto's stubbornness 'won' over the Kyuubi and she told him that in order to gain the acknowledgement he deserved…he would have to literally become a different person. Not just the changing of his attitude but his appearance as well. When Naruto asked just how he could do that, the Kyuubi told him that foxes were natural shape shifters and that she let him use her power, with her guidance of course, to take advantage of that little fact. Of course, the Kyuubi then told Naruto that the change in his appearance meant that he would have to change his gender…which didn't go over well with him once he was told that.

For months he persevered, trying to shape people's opinions himself without relying on the Kyuubi's idea. Something which the Kyuubi said made her proud of him…but eventually he grew dejected as his attempts weren't showing a lot of results. Of course, being as young as he was, he was impatient and couldn't think in the long term so he didn't realize that changing people's opinions of him would take many, many years…a little detail the Kyuubi purposefully left out.

At the end of his rope, Naruto eventually took up the Kyuubi's offer to make use of her shape shifting ability. Though the Kyuubi told him that, in order for her plan to work, she would need just a little more freedom, freedom that the Seal denied her. She told Naruto to tear just a little bit off the bottom of the Seal which he did without question as the Kyuubi never once deceived him, to his knowledge. Though he did ask why just a little bit of the Seal and not the whole thing and the Kyuubi truthfully answered him. She told him should he remove the seal now, he would die and that was something she did not want. As that wouldn't fit her plans…of course she didn't tell him that detail as well.

So, with a little bit of the Seal gone, the Kyuubi went to work very, very quickly as she knew she wouldn't have much time at all to do what needed to be done as Her chakra would flare up because of it. That meant Ninja would be swarming over Naruto in moments. Thankfully, Naruto's ANBU follows never actually stayed 'on top of him' but rather a few blocks away. Which was perfect for the Kyuubi and her plans.

The entire process didn't last long at all, just a couple of seconds, but the massive flare up from the Kyuubi's chakra made many Ninja's fear the worst. Naruto had let the Kyuubi have 'control' over his body to do what was needed, altering his body to that of a females just as quickly as a Ninja would make a Henge before creating a very unique 'clone.' With the Kyuubi in control of Naruto's body, she was able to use an aspect that was unique to her which allowed her to create a clone that looked exactly like the original Naruto. This clone was identical _in every way _to an actual living breathing human…

When the ANBU arrived 'on scene' to the massive outbreak of the Kyuubi's Charka all they found was a pair of unconscious bodies of Naruto and a redheaded girl that appeared to be of the same age. Both children were rushed to the hospital while the Kyuubi talked to Naruto in their little 'dreamscape' over what needed to be done to solidify their new identity. And no one, not even the mighty Third Hokage, was aware of what actually happened…

* * *

**Chapter 1: Already Corrupted? Or Just the Beginning?**

A fairly short red headed girl sighed heavily as she looked outside of her classrooms window. "Naruto, you moron…" She groaned, staring over the desecrated Monument. It was only moments later that Iruka noticed it and rushed out of the building, placing Mizuki in charge of the students. Her violet eyes flashed over Mizuki and waited until he looked down at the lesson planner before sneaking out of the window. Her fellow students didn't say a word.

The red head stalked after Iruka, using every ounce of her naturally occurring stealth abilities to go undetected as she followed him to the Monument and thus, Naruto. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' She thought angrily as she noticed the familiar blonde still hanging from the Monument, paint cans and brushes hanging around him. She couldn't help but shake her head as she heard his little speech about "Being Incredible" for doing being able to paint the Monument in broad daylight.

"What the hell are you doing during class time!" She heard Iruka yell to Naruto after stopping on top of the Hokage's Tower…where a crowd, Hokage included, had gatehred. "Get Down here right now, you idiot!" She snorted from that, and that was the first time the people on top of the Hokage's Tower noticed she was there. More than a few people were surprised by the appearance of the young redheaded girl as she obviously wasn't a Ninja yet and yet she was still on top of the Hokage's Tower with them. Unfortunately the snort had caught Iruka's attention as well, causing him to spin around…and then stare blankly, for a few seconds, at the redheaded girl.

"Reiko…" Iruka growled at the red-headed, "What the hell are you doing out of class!"

While his back was turned, Naruto was trying to scramble back up the Monument. "I'm here to help catch Naruto! You know he listens to me! Plus, I know where he hides and you don't!" She said smugly with a sly grin causing Iruka to let out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine, but you're getting detention for cutting out of class."

"…Yes, Sensei" Reiko grumbled and glanced up at the Hokage, who seemed to find the situation rather funny. "Hey, Old Man! Sorry about Naruto…next time I'll try making sure that his next prank stays are a more…sane level." She yelled and bowed slightly, before running off to chase after Naruto.

In the end, it was Iruka who caught Naruto and tied him up in the rope he used to suspend himself from the Monument and dragged him back to the Academy. She couldn't help but giggle at the sight of Naruto, sitting in front of the class, tied up, and pouting. For the life of her she couldn't figure out how Iruka managed to beat her to the punch, but he did.

Reiko just let her head hit her desk as Iruka announced the surprise review of the Henge. "Idiot..." She murmured for what seemed the millionth time today.

Naruto plopped down into the seat next to Reiko, grumbling about his bad luck at being caught and then having Iruka spring the review on them. A few of their classmates blamed Naruto who simply grumbled that he didn't care in response.

When Iruka called Reiko up, she had a hard time controlling her grin as she walked up to the front of the class. "When you're ready" Iruka prompted. With a nod, Reiko formed the familiar hand signs for the Henge. She took a deep breath before muttering 'Henge' and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Once it cleared, it showed a perfect transformation into Iruka…if Iruka had been a woman. "Reiko…" He said threateningly as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What? You said to Henge into you! You never said what Gender the Henge had to be" She said as innocently as possible. A few of her classmates chuckled, but other than that, it was normal for Reiko to do something Naruto-like, given her friendship with the orange jump-suited kid.

"You know what I wanted! A perfect Henge of me is a MALE me. Do it correctly and no _other_ funny business" Iruka's voice was very sharp and stern, leaving no room for any argument."Yes, Sensei…Henge!"

This time it was a perfect male Iruka, and with a nod, the real Iruka checked her off. Nearly 10 minutes went by as Iruka when through the rest of the class, until it was Naruto's turn. "Like Reiko, no funny business, you got that, Naruto?" "Yeah, yeah, I hear ya Iruka-sensei" He grumbled sullenly.

'Hehe, here we go! Iruka-sensei won't know what hit him!' Naruto thought excitedly and brought his hands up. A huge, swirling mass of blue chakra erupted from Naruto, startling everyone in the room, except for Reiko. "HENGE!" Naruto seemed to yell at the top of his lungs.

"Oh, Lord…" Reiko groaned, a massive sweat drop forming, as the cloud around Naruto dissipated from the ground up, allowing her to spot the naked feet and slender ankles, and realizing what Naruto had just used. She couldn't help but shake her head in embarrassment as Iruka shot off backwards in a shower of blood. All the while Naruto was clutching his sides in laughter. "That was my awesome 'Sexy no Jutsu!'" Naruto exclaimed loudly after he dispelled it.

"Damn it, Naruto! Don't invent useless skills!" Iruka roared at the blonde, which Naruto casually shrugged off. "But...It's not a useless Jutsu..." Reiko murmured to herself causing a red faced Sakura to turn to look at her. "How...How can that NOT be a useless Jutsu? It's perverted!" Seethed the pink haired girl. "Naruto's Henge isn't just a simple illusion Sakura...It's a REAL transformation. Think of the possibilities an actual transformation could used for." Reiko whispered to Sakura after leaning forward.

It took a moment, a very brief moment for Sakura to think up all the uses a _real_ transformation could be used for…along with the fact that an actual transformation wouldn't be 'dispelled' unless the person using it wanted it to dispel. Never once had Reiko lied to anyone in the class, so Sakura knew that she wouldn't lie about something like that and the implications that Naruto could use such an amazing technique was astonishing. That didn't mean Sakura believed Reiko right off the bat.

"You…Your serious aren't you? But...But he's Dead Last! The failure!"

"Do you really believe that, Sakura?" Reiko Murmured. "Of course! Look at his grades, that's proof enough" "I know you've seen some of Naruto's work when we've had to pass it forward, what did his assignments tell you" This caused Sakura to blink and to open her mouth for an instant retort before stopping herself as she thought back to the few assignments she had seen of his. "A-are you suggesting that…that the teachers are sabotaging him..?" Sakura's eyes widened as she whispered fearfully, which earned a sharp nod from Reiko. "Well...Not all of them" Reiko murmured.

"But…But why would they do that?"

"You're a smart girl Sakura, I'm sure you can figure out part of the reason"

Sakura bit her lower lip and put that brain of her to use, thinking over the reasons as to why the Teachers would want to hurt Naruto's performance. "It's...Because of those looks isn't it? And why everyone says to stay away from them…? It's something to do with why everyone dislikes Naruto so much, right?" Sakura asked Reiko, her voice shaky, almost as if she really didn't want an answer.

"Yeah, that's my best bet. I've known Naruto pretty much all my life; we're both Orphans whose parents were killed before the Yondaime could kill the Kyuubi. I don't know what Naruto's family did to make people hate him so much, but my guess is that they were both Ninja's who did something pretty disgraceful before they died and to get back at them, they're treating Naruto like shit." Sakura's shoulders sagged slightly, she knew people didn't like Naruto, but the thought never really crossed her mind.

"I-I haven't treated him that well…Have I?" Sakura asked softly. "No. No you haven't" Reiko replied, causing Sakura to wince at her bluntness.

Just a Sakura was about to reply, Mizuki's voice came snapping over their little conversion. "Uzumaki, Inoue, Both of you go with Iruka. You're both cleaning the Monument as punishment for skipping out of class." "Great, Just great…" Reiko murmured and got up to leave. "You don't have to change Sakura; just…try to be a little nicer to Naruto, ok?"

* * *

**Atop the Monument**

The sun was starting to go down and the Monument was only half cleaned, both Naruto and Reiko were looking a little worse for war on the hanging scaffolds as they scrubbed the paint of the faces of the Hokage's. "Naruto...Next time...You're using Water-colors! This...Sucks!" Naruto laughed nervously and a scratched the back of his head while staring at Reiko. "Sorry, Rei-chan…I'll keep that in mind next time."

"I'm not letting the two of you go home until you finish up with the Monument." Came Iruka's voice from atop the Monument. This earned him to dejected sighs and blank looks. "It's not like we anyone to go home to, _Iruka-Sensei_" Spat Reiko as she sent a glare towards Iruka. As much as she liked Iruka due to his friendly treatment of Naruto, and by extension her as well, but the prospect of returning to an empty 'home' was never a pleasant concept. Naruto simply lowered his head and began rubbing the Monument harder.

Iruka winced slightly; he'd momentarily forgotten, since nearly all the other kids in the Academy had family, that Reiko and Naruto didn't have anyone but themselves. Naruto had taken Reiko into his little apartment when they were both only 6 years old. When the Hokage found out about this, he ordered that Reiko be moved into the orphanage. The two new friends didn't want to be separated and raised absolute hell about the thought of being separated. Eventually the Hokage conceded and let the two orphans stay together; of course, he made sure that the kids were cared for as best he could, assigning Two ANBU squads to watch over the kids around the clock.

For more reasons than one: First was Naruto's Status, Second was the fact Reiko was an unknown. While not uncommon since the Kyuubi attack had destroyed several Key buildings, including an administration building that kept a lot of birth certificates. It was entirely possible that Reiko was one of the unfortunates that had lost both their parents and birth certificates during the attack, but one could never be too careful in a Ninja Village.

With a heavy sigh, and knowing he would regret his offer, Iruka spoke up, "Look you two, finish up here and I'll buy you some ramen…" The two Genin hopefuls immediately brightened up at the sound of Ramen and renewed their efforts. "If only Iruka-sensei offered us Ramen before! We'd be done by now!" "Hehe, that's for sure, Naru-kun!"

Afterwards, Iruka took the both of them to Ichiraku's, much to the absolute delight of the kids. Naruto couldn't help but inhale the Ramen while Reiko was a little more reserved, but not by much. "Why did you do that to the Monument, Naruto? Don't you know how those faces are of?" Iruka asked softly. "Of course I know! Those are the faces of the strongest Ninja's in the village! And my Hero is up there! The 4th! The hero that saved the Village from the Kyuubi!" Naruto exclaimed happily. "So why did you do it than, Naruto? Why deface them?" "Why? 'Cause one day...I'm going to become the Hokage! And then I'm going to surpass ALL of them! Then people will acknowledge my strength!"

"Naruto, you're yelling too loudly. I think I've gone deaf in my left ear…" Reiko murmured dryly as she brought her ramen bowl to her lips and finished off the last of the broth. "Eheh...Sorry Rei-chan" Naruto said while blushing lightly in embarrassment.

"Hey...Sensei...can I borrow your Hitai'ate?" Naruto nervously asked Iruka and stared hopefully at him. "Heh, this old thing? Sorry, Naruto. You can only wear one after you become a Genin. It's proof that you've Come of Age. Maybe you'll get one tomorrow" Iruka said softly, a little sad, as he watched Naruto visibly deflate.

"Don't worry Naru-kun! We'll definitely get our Hitai'ate tomorrow!" Reiko exclaimed with a big grin and giving Naruto a thumbs up. "After all, I've been helping you with your assignments! I know you'll get to graduate!" Naruto shot a weak smile over to Reiko, slightly cheered up but Reiko's exuberate attitude.

* * *

**The Next Day at the Academy**

Reiko visibly paled as the graduation test was announced and shot a look at Naruto, who let his head slump down onto the desk. "This…isn't good" Reiko murmured as Iruka called students up to perform the Bunshin. Reiko had preformed the Bunshin perfectly and received her Hitai'ate, as she passed Naruto on the way to her seat and patted his shoulder before giving it a soft squeeze. "Good Luck, Naruto…Do you best!" "Thanks Reiko-chan!" Naruto said in false cheerfulness, he knew things wouldn't go well.

"Bunshin!" Naruto screamed as he formed the hand signs. He let off a huge burst of Chakra, sending a powerful, but small gust across the class room, causing the windows to rattle and startling his classmates. Naruto gulped as he looked over to the dissipating cloud of smoke, with high hopes, before freezing up, wide eyed over the poor state of his Bunshin. The thing looked, not only sickly, but nothing like the original.

Iruka mercilessly announced that Naruto had failed. "Iruka, technically he did create a clone and this is, after all, his third time…We could let him pass" Mizuki said with a soft smile which caused Iruka to shake his head before turning to look at him. "No way Mizuki, the test was three Bunshin and Naruto couldn't even make one useful one. I can't pass him." Naruto gritted his teeth in anger as he glared at Iruka, his hand balled so tightly into fists that a little blood managed to drip onto the floor.

"Naruto…" Hinata murmured sadly as Naruto stomped back to his seat. She watched as Reiko went over to Naruto and wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a gentle hug. She envied Reiko for being able to be so forward and wished that she could've had the courage to help comfort Naruto.

"Ne, Reiko…Can I…Be alone for a little bit? I promise I'll be back home before it gets dark" Naruto whispered softly, his voice full of sadness. Reiko sighed softly before smiling sadly at him. "Sure thing, Naruto…I'll pick up some Ramen for us, just don't be too late! Don't want it getting cold after all!" Both laughed sadly before Naruto got up and left the Academy. Reiko's eyes followed him as he left the building.

* * *

"Hey! Naruto, could you stop for a moment!" Mizuki called out to Naruto as he jogged up to him. Naruto, pulled from his thoughts and random wandering, turned and pulled his hands from his pockets to face Mizuki.

"Yeah? What is it Mizuki-sensei?"

"Look, I wanted to say that you shouldn't blame Iruka for failing you. He's a serious person and he takes the safety of all those in the Academy very seriously. He…failed you because he was worried about you. He doesn't want you to get hurt out in the field. If you did, I don't think he could live with himself because he really does like you." Mizuki said softly as he knelt down in front of Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Still…I wish I had graduated so I could be with Rei-chan…We had lotta hopes for the future ya know? I'd be Hokage and she said she would be right there with me, supporting me! B-but now…" Naruto sniffled as he slightly hunched over.

"I see…Well then, why don't I tell you a little secret then? It should help you and Reiko achieve your dreams" Mizuki said with a deviously dark grin.

"It…will?" Naruto said slowly before he was suddenly excited and grinning broadly at Mizuki, "What's the secret? Come on! Tell me! Tell me!" Naruto was practically jumping up and down.

"Calm down, Naruto…Listen carefully, ok? Do this for me and you'll be the top Genin. Now, here's what you need to do…"

* * *

**Later that night after dinner**

Naruto told her he was going for another walk, saying that the cool night air might do him some good, before leaving. Reiko simply nodded and watched him leave the little apartment they had shared for years before narrowing her eyes. Something was up, that much she knew, since Naruto didn't seem to be acting himself. More so than the last two times he failed.

So she made a simple decision. She would follow him and make sure he didn't get into trouble, or go pull some prank of some poor innocent. Her eyes narrowed again as she finally caught up with him, following his unique scent. Reiko occasionally joked about the fact that she might be related to the Inuzuka Clan, due to her heightened sense of smell, but quickly changed her tune, saying her features were much too 'soft' for her to be from that clan of feral looking Ninjas. She was happy with Naruto and wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that. Finally she caught up to him just in time to see him running from the Hokage's Tower, with a very large scroll strapped to his back.

By the time she actually managed to reach him, she had plopped onto the ground next to Naruto. "Naruto! Just what the hell are you doing!" Reiko yelled in anger! "Some 'walk' this is!" "Rei-chan? What're you..? Never mind...Mizuki-sensei told me of another graduation test! He told me I had to steal the Scroll of Seals and bring it to him! But I figure I'll try learning something from it before that…Hey! You wanna look too?" Naruto said full of excitement.

Reiko raised a single eyebrow at him before shrugging; it wouldn't hurt to take advantage of the situation and looked over Naruto's shoulder as he opened the scroll. "Kage…Bunshin…" She murmured before giggling loudly as she heard Naruto groan. "Looks like the Bunshin technique is gonna stalk you! Huh…It does seem pretty interesting...I mean look at that Naruto! A Dispelled Kage Bunshin returns all its memories to its creator! My God…" She trailed off as the realization of what that meant hit her, "Think of all the things we could do with that! We could learn stuff faster and even use it as decoys and scouts!" Reiko continued excitedly and soon Naruto picked up on the vibe as well. Both grinned to each other and began working on mastering the Kage Bunshin.

* * *

The alarm had been sounded and a large portion of On Duty Chunin and Jonin amassed outside of the Hokage's tower. Sarutobi walked out with a grim look on his face as he looked over his Ninja's. Some were screaming for Naruto's blood while others weren't. 'This isn't good. Naruto has had that scroll for well over half a day now. Reiko isn't anywhere to be found either…' His eyes darkened considerably. 'This is taking a simple prank way too far' He sighed softly. If Reiko was in on this, she wouldn't be able to escape punishment as a newly instituted Genin. Though, he would probably make it something light since she was such a promising young Kunoichi. "Find Naruto and retrieve that scroll at once! But Bring Naruto to me! I'll deal with him myself! Now go!" Sarutobi roared, striking his arm out swiftly in front of him. The crowd of Ninja scattered as one.

Mizuki, on the other hand, decided not to look for Naruto, since he obviously knew where he was, and went about town, telling people that Naruto had stolen the Forbidden Scroll of Seals and disappeared with it. Panic slowly spread as the word got around. People began fearing that the Kyuubi was finally going to make its appearance once again with the use of the Scroll of Seals.

Iruka had a gut feeling that Naruto had gone into the forests surrounding Konoha and rushed in that direction. Though and behold, his instincts were right as he found not only a haggard looking Naruto, but a tired looking Reiko as well. "I've found you…Do you know how much trouble you two are in! Especially YOU Reiko! You're a Genin now! And Stealing the Forbidden scroll is a crime! Even if Naruto stole it himself, you're still an accomplice!" Iruka yelled very loudly at the two tired kids. "Hey! Leave Reiko outta this! And want do ya mean a crime! This is a Test Mizuki-Sensei gave me so I could become a Genin like Reiko!" Naruto screamed, confused, back at Iruka.

"Test? What the heck are you talking about Naruto?"

"Mizuki-Sensei said there was this secret test, that was really hard, and if I did it I could become a Genin! Well, I got the Scroll! So can I get my Hitai'ate now?" Naruto exclaimed, already having forgotten Iruka's mention of a crime.

"Mizuki said that…? Naruto…There isn't—" Iruka was cut off by Naruto's excited rambling.

"But we only got a chance to learn one thing from the scroll…But if I show you this Technique, you definitely have to let me graduate!"

"Technique..? What..?" Iruka started, but his senses picked up danger, causing him to tense briefly before grabbing Naruto by this shoulders and throwing him to the ground as a hail of Kunai struck him. Reiko had been too shocked to say anything earlier as her brain processed the fact she might be in serious amounts of trouble.

"**Iruka-sensei!**" Two sets of voices rang out at once as Iruka slumped lifeless against the tree. Numerous kunai sticking out of his Chunin vest, most weren't lethal hits but one managed to get lucky and hit him right in the jugular.

Both Naruto and Reiko were deathly pale as they watch blood spurting out from Iruka's neck as he slowly slide down the tree and onto the ground. "I-Iruka…sensei..?" Reiko murmured in shock as his Chunin vest slowly turned a dark red. A dark, evil laughter filled the woods and drew Naruto's attention to Iruka's murderer, who was standing high up on a tree branch. Reiko had frozen up at the side of the Iruka's corpse. This time it was Naruto's turn to murmur in shock. "Mizuki-sensei..? What? What's going on?"

"Haha...I'll tell you wants going on…What's going on is that I'm going to kill you and take that scroll from you and then…I'm going to rape your little girlfriend there before I cut her throat" Mizuki said darkly while cackling almost manically as he lewdly eyed Reiko. She wasn't supposed to be there, but he wasn't going to waste the chance to get himself off on a nubile young Kunoichi. He'd show her one of the horrors Kunoichi could be expected to face if they were caught, just before he killed her.

"Wha..? B-but why? Why Mizuki-sensei!"

"Why? That's easy..That's because YOU'RE the Kyuubi! The very monster that attacked Konoha all those years ago! You see, we teach you that the 4th Hokage killed it because of a law passed to keep what truly happened that night a secret! In truth, the Yondaime gave his life to seal it inside of YOU!" Mizuki roared with laughter as he reached behind him and pulled a large shuriken from off its holster on his back.

"M-me? The Kyuubi? Y-yeah right!" Naruto yelled his hesitant response, the shock of seeing Iruka killed in front of him slowing down his thoughts. He was about to say something else but Mizuki let loose the Giant Shuriken at Naruto. Reiko was still frozen in shock over the sight of the dead Iruka. No matter how many times she had seen blood and gore in her dreams, as the Kyuubi had tried desensitizing her to such horrors, seeing the real thing was a huge shock to the system. That was when she heard a soft wet thud before a scream of pain. Her head mechanically turned to see the giant shuriken embedded deep within Naruto's chest, her eyes wide in disbelief, before shuddering as some deep rooted link seemed to sever with his death. (**A/N:** Due to the upset this caused…here's a spoiler. Naruto really isn't dead. He'll be making a comeback. And yes, when I do bring him back, it'll still be, mostly, the Naruto we know and love. He plays a VERY major part in future chapters.)

"Ahh that takes care of that" Mizuki said in sing-song tone as he hopped down from the tree and started to walk towards Reiko. He stopped briefly to pull the Forbidden Scroll of Seals away from Naruto's corpse and proceeded back towards Reiko with a sick perverted grin on his face.

Just before all life left Naruto's body, the Kyuubi quickly used the link that connected clone to creator to 'jerk' all of Naruto's memories into Reiko which caused the redheads eyes to glaze over due to the shock of so many years of foreign memories flooding into her head. That was before the Kyuubi 'stepped in' and 'blocked' Narutos memories.

Mizuki saw Reiko's glazed over eyes and thought she was so scared that she simply blanked out. He began working at his belt as he stood over her. Just as he let his pants drop, he heard a dark chuckling coming from Reiko and tilted his head slightly to look into her eyes and gasped. Her irises were a dark red and her pupils were now slits, unlike her normally violet colored eyes. "W-what the...What the hell are you!" Mizuki screamed and tried taking a step back, only to trip on his pants. The Forbidden Scroll rolled a few feet away from him.

"Oh? Me?" Reiko replied innocently. "Well, I'm Naruto! Or at least…I was until Okaa-sama promised me a better life…So she made me into Reiko! And then we made a copy of the old me to avoid suspicion" She said in a dark yet childish tone as she slowly stood up. "You killed my Naruto earlier then I wanted him to die…it'll make destroying Konoha that much harder but…oh well. I'll just do it myself. Now do me a favor and die already" Mizuki, at this point, had pissed himself due to the newly revealed demonic Genin in front of him. The sheer amount of focused killing intent nearly made him lose all control right then and there, but it was more than enough to paralyze him.

Reiko's hand flashed quickly through a serious of seals and a part of Mizuki's fear clouded brain realized she was preparing a Katon Jutsu. "Katon: Hōenka!" Reiko murmured as she took a huge breath in before exhaling and 'spitting' several small balls of fire at Mizuki's cowering form. Her victim cried out in agony as the Katon justu engulfed him, causing him to writhe about in agony on the ground.

Thanks to her currently Kyuubi enhanced senses she was able to sense multiple chakra signatures heading straight for her. Powerful signatures making her realize that the Ninja of the village had forgone stealth to go all out without restriction. So she quickly rushed over to 'Naruto's' corpse and cradled it in her arms after removing the giant shuriken from his chest. She buried her face in against the crook of his neck and began to sob heavily against into it. At first the sobs wouldn't have fooled even oncoming Ninja but the reality of the situation finally hit home and her cries became painfully real. She was able to ignore Mizuki's slowly dying cries of pain.

That was the scene the Hokage and his ANBU arrived at, the crying form of Reiko against a bloody Naruto, a burning Mizuki, and the kunai ridden corpse of Iruka. A hand signal from The Third, sent an ANBU to grab the Forbidden Scroll that was lying nearby, as he himself walked up to Reiko's crying form. He gazed sadly down at her and Naruto's body and noted her lack of reaction to his presence. With a heavy sigh he reached out and touched Reiko's shoulder, startling her, and causing her head to snap up to look at him. "O-old...Man..?" She said through her sobs. "Reiko, I need you to tell me what happened here, EVERYTHING that happened here" Sarutobi said gently, but firmly at the same time. Sniffling loudly Reiko told him everything that happened, to a point.

Reiko bent the truth in some areas, saying she had managed to get there in time to hear Mizuki saying something about Naruto being the demon and then saw Naruto die in front of her. She said that she couldn't remember what happened next, said the next thing she remembered was seeing Mizuki burning alive. That was when she rushed over to Naruto.

Reiko purposefully kept a lot of the truth within her 'lie' to make the lie that much harder to pick up…while having the Kyuubi 'back' her words by 'channeling' some of the Kitsune's devious nature. "I see…" The Hokage muttered. "Sleep now Reiko, I'll have you sent to the hospital to rest" Reiko blinked through tear filled eyes and opened her mouth to speak, just as the Hokage delivered a swift chop the back of her neck, rendering her unconscious.

"Take her to the Hospital and put her on double watch and double guard. We've lost enough Ninja today and I don't want to lose another" The Third commanded, worried that she might possibly commit suicide, and one of his ANBU came up to take Reiko's unconscious form before using Shunshin to whisk her away.

Sarutobi looked down at Naruto's bloody corpse and shook his head in shame. It would seem as if Naruto would only find peace in the Next life. At least, he thought, he would be with his Father. "Clean this place up and properly dispose of Mizuki's body. Have Naruto and Iruka brought to the mortician to be cleaned up and prepped for burial." He spared once last look at the bodies before using Shunshin to get back to his office. Tomorrow as going to be a long, long day, he thought.

* * *

AN: As it says, it's a rewrite. Sort of. Chapter 0.5 is an addition to show everyone how Reiko came about..in a more plausible fashion over my shitty little additive in chapter 5. Chapter 1 has been...heavily edited as I've learned from some of my past mistakes. Also expect the future chapters to be rewritten/edited as well.

I look forward to your Reviews! Flames are welcome as well; _SO LONG AS THEY ARE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM_. I need to know what issues you may have with my story in order to fix them! Simply saying "This story sucks" doesn't tell me what I can do to fix it after all.

Lastly, **I do have this planned out.** I _**know**_ where I want this story to go, and _**when to reveal certain things**_.

Thank you for reading my story! I hope you've enjoyed it so far!

**Revision Date: 8/10/2012 (Sorry it took so long~!)**

Signed,

Kit the (Not So) Fiendish Fire Cat~!


	2. Dreams Dont Die Revised

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Naruto…

AN: **Now the first few chapters will be following the Manga to a degree**. With obvious little deviations. Eventually I'm going to break off from the Manga as, as we all know, it's been rehashed a million times. For now though…you'll have to put up with it. Also, Chapter 3's revision will be coming in a couple of days as Chapters 3, 4, and 5 get progressively longer and longer. I just hope I caught everything that needed to be revised…

* * *

**Chapter 2: Dreams Don't Die**

**The Hospital**

The remaining evening and through the night, until morning was extremely rough, not just for the ANBU tasked with Guard Duty and Suicide Prevention, but for Reiko was well. Her dreams were horror filled nightmares, reliving the deaths of Iruka and Naruto and echoed with Mizuki's dying screams as he was burned alive, causing her to lash out in her sleep. Her screams and cries of anguish tore at the hearts of some of her Guardians, causing most of them to look back to the times when they were that innocent, when killing was still something that gave them nightmares.

Reiko had rolled herself off the hospital bed on more than one occasion, causing the Nurses to have to strap her to the bed, in some small measure to keep the poor girl from hurting herself in her sleep. If one could call it that.

An ANBU or two had gone over and sat on the girls' bed, gently stroking her head, and whispering soft, comforting words. While this might seem uncharacteristic of the villages masked defenders, they were still very, very much human. Those kind little actions had provided Reiko a small reprieve from her nightmares. But once that ANBU's shift ended, the nightmares started up again, almost as soon as the ANBU had gotten up.

The Nurses had even tried to drug her into a deeper sleep, a sleep beyond the reach of nightmares, but Reiko proved unusually resistant to those drugs. Nothing seemed to work for as long as the drugs should've worked on a normal person as Reiko's metabolism broke the drug down to impotent levels. A few nurses had taken up what the ANBU had started, but they had other duties to attend to and couldn't stay for any meaningful lengths of time.

* * *

Inside of Reiko's head, she watched the event that caused the death of two of her most beloved people. And the callous words she had said to Mizuki as she stood, towering over him while channeling the Kyuubi's chakra. She recalled what she said about wanting Naruto to die at some point which caused her to flinch at her callous and horrible words. So she questioned herself on whether she truly did want 'Naruto' to die or not and it didn't take long for her to come up with an answer. She never wanted Naruto to die. She spent half her current life, the last six years with him, growing into her own person while her 'fake Naruto' grew into his own person. Over those years, she grew attached to him, essentially becoming his sister, a true sister, and not just the being who was a part of his creation. For the second time in her life, she had gained someone to love. First her 'Okaa-sama,' The Kyuubi, and then her clone, her Naruto.

Over the years she had expected Naruto that Naruto would eventually die when they became Ninja as he never really took time to think first. Which, while a virtue in some situations were actions are needed, was more a problem than anything. Something which the Kyuubi helped Reiko learn to do, to think first, but Naruto didn't have that 'little voice' in his head like she did that guided her. Reiko did try her hardest to enact a similar change but she never truly appreciated just how stubborn her original self was. Though she occasionally thought the emotional pain caused by the cruelty of the people of Konoha might drive Naruto into a suicidal state with their looks and words…which they thankfully never managed to do.

Naruto's emotional fortitude against his mistreatment didn't stymie her anger and hatred from growing over the past six years at the treatment of her Naruto. When he began publicly spouting that he would become not just Hokage, but the greatest one there ever was, her plans, and that of the Kyuubi's, changed slightly. Eventually her attachment to her 'clone' grew to the point that she would follow him to hell and back in order to establish his dream. From there, she could be his right hand, guiding him from the shadows, in order to 'destroy' Konoha from within. Under Naruto's reign, and with her guidance, they could've brought about such catastrophic change to Konoha that no one would be able to recognize the new Konoha that rose in its palce. A Konoha that was, by proxy, under her control.

But now he couldn't do that. He couldn't get the recognition he wanted, that she wanted for so long, because of a stupid Ninja with a grudge against the Kyuubi, that had a lack of faith in the previous Hokage's sealing abilities. Her heart ached painfully due to Naruto's untimely demise, but that pain was nothing compared to the pain she felt for kind 'old' Iruka-sensei. He was amongst a small cadre of people who she considered to be of any real worth due to his treatment of her Naruto.

Naruto…He had grown up to be a stronger person then she could ever be. He had withered the storm in her stead, taking the emotional abuse in stride, while she…she had given up, given up her old life in exchange for a new one. Reiko eventually began to look up to Naruto, and at _his_ strength, a strength she wanted, a strength she admired, but was forever out of her reach, ever since she agreed to become Reiko and gave up being Naruto.

One of the thoughts she occasionally toyed with in her head when she let her mind wonder astray was the thought that maybe she was actually the 'special clone' created by Naruto and the Kyuubi in order to give the Kyuubi a place to 'live' within a body that better matched the Great Fox's own gender. It was a thought that never ceased to amuse the Kyuubi when she 'overheard' Reiko's internal musings. But the fact that SHE had the Seal proved otherwise. And proved to Reiko about her own weakness as a child that was, physically, all on her own.

Iruka…He was one of the few people to show kindness and indifference to Naruto and that immediately endeared him to Reiko. Iruka treated Naruto just like he would any other person. No, that was wrong, thought Reiko. Iruka treated Naruto almost like family, taking Naruto out to dinner on more than one occasion in order to try cheering him up, which lead to him taking her along once he realized just how close Reiko was to Naruto. Spending his hard earned money on the two orphans to give them, mostly Naruto, a glimpse of happiness and light in a world that seemed to want to darken theirs. Like Naruto, she decided that Iruka wasn't supposed to die. He was supposed to stay alive and support Naruto like she was planning on to. He was supposed to be alive to continue being the 'Father figure' that Naruto looked up to him as. In fact, his death hurt her far worse then Naruto's…as Iruka wasn't a clone that could be remade.

Sure they had Old Man Hokage, but that wasn't the same. He was more like a strict Grandfather, hence the 'Old Man' bit and the Hokage couldn't see them often enough due to him being the village leader, and taking care of the village. Though now that she thought about it, it was always Naruto the Hokage paid close attention to…seemingly putting up with her due to her relationship with the blonde.

Her eyes cracked open and she gritted her teeth in rage. She took some solace in the fact that she had killed the man, rather painfully, who killed two of her precious people. Her lips curled up slightly as she remembered that fact, before flinched and lurching forward in a dry heave. Or rather, attempted to lurch forward but the straps keeping her from falling off the bed, prevented that motion. Her body convulsed as she remembered all the gruesome details as she killed Mizuki. The smell of burning flesh, of evacuating and burning bowel movements, the cries of pain and pleas of help.

Her ANBU guard quickly cut the straps, seeing the panic in Reiko's eyes as she struggled. They didn't need her going into a panic attack and the straps were only there to keep her from falling off the bed to being with. Once freed of her straps she rolled off her bed and lunged for a nearby garbage pail, where she proceeded to dry heave over it. Soon the tears started and the sobbing began while occasionally groaning in pain over the bucket, unaware that the ANBU had called for the Nurse. Only did she notice someone else was in the room when a soothing hand began to rub her back. She looked to the Nurse, slowly, with tear stained cheeks, and then to the ANBU.

"I...I killed…Him…" She spoke softly, voice cracking, as she came to terms with her actions. She killed someone herself. She actually killed and it hurt. Why! Why did it hurt? She'd seen far gruesome deaths due to the images her 'Okaa-sama' had shown her, so why did it hurt so much? Why did it make her so sick even though the bastard killed two of her precious people? Internal questions wouldn't get her answers, she realized sullenly, so she had to vocalize them.

"Why…why was it so easy? Why am I...Why am I hurting because of it? That...that son of a bitch deserved it, so WHY!" She screamed. "Isn't the first kill supposed to be the hardest?" She cried out in the ANBU's direction. She wished she could see his face from behind that damnable mask so that she could see what he was thinking. The Nurse couldn't help but follow the young Genin's gaze as she too looked at the ANBU.

The ANBU simply shook his head as he stared down at the Genin. "The first kill isn't the hardest. It's the Second. The first kill is quick, simple and easy because your reacting on training, usually the training makes you not fully realize that you're truly about to kill someone. It's the Second Kill that you realize that you're about to end someone's life. That hurt is remorse that you're feeling. Whether he deserved it or not, which he did, it proves that you have a heart. Keep that innocence with you, keep that feeling of remorse for each life you will take in the future, Genin, but remember when the time comes to kill again, that it's either your life, or worse, or theirs." The ANBU said gravely.

Reiko simply stared, wide eyed and pale, as she listened to the ANBU talk and shakily nodded. This man was a part of the Hokage's handpicked elite, one of the deadliest Ninja in the village aside from the Hokage himself. And she hadn't be expecting an answer from him, so when he started speaking, she listened and she listened carefully. When he finished talking she nodded slowly as she let the information sink. It wasn't hard to figure out what the 'or worse' thing the ANBU had mentioned might be, after all, it had nearly happened to her in the forest just outside of Konoha.

A loud knock on door drew her attention away from the ANBU just before it slid open to reveal some Chunin standing there with a scroll. "The Hokage wishes to know if Miss Inoue is well enough to take the photo for her Genin ID and after that he requests her presence. I have the written orders here if you wish to see them, Sir" The Chunin addressed the ANBU guard, who simply nodded and took the scroll. He checked it over once, verifying that it was real, before opening it. Reading it over the ANBU nodded, rolled it back up and pushed some chakra into it, causing it to poof out of existence.

"Are you well enough to go?" The ANBU asked softly as he turned to face Reiko once again.

"Y-yeah...As well as I'm gonna be all things considered" She replied, trying to be cheerful, but it came out rather forced. "Sitting around here…feeling sorry for myself isn't going to do me any good…T-that…and…Naruto would kick my ass if I moped around like this for any longer" Her voice quivered tremendously as she fought back tears. "Let's go!"

The ANBU nodded and placed a hand on Reiko's shoulder and Shunshin'ed her out of the room and to the proscribed locations. Just after a quick stop to the bathroom so Reiko could wash her face clean of the tear stains.

* * *

**Hokage's Office. A little later that day.**

"Come in" Came the Hokage's powerful voice from behind the door. A paler then usual Reiko was lead into the Hokage's office by the same ANBU that took her from the Hospital Room. Turning to the ANBU, the Hokage gave a quick nod to him, before dismissing him. The ANBU nodded in turn before turning to leave.

"Reiko…" Sarutobi said softly as he looked sadly down to her. "How're you holding up?"

"Truthfully, Hokage-sama? Not well, but I'll live…I have to…for Iruka and especially Naruto." Sarutobi winced slightly at her formal tone; never once had Reiko called him Hokage-sama. Like Naruto, she had taken up saying 'Old Man' since the two had been inseparable. Sarutobi noticed a small smile creeping onto her face as she seemed to remember something. "Just don't expect me to be pulling any pranks like Naruto did…he did more than enough for the two of us, isn't that right, Old Man." She said with a sad laugh.

Sarutobi blinked, before chuckling softly. "That he did, that he did indeed…His and Iruka's funeral is in three days. Team assignments have been delayed for the funerals and pushed back a week. I thought you would want to know."

"Yes…I did, thank you…" She paused for a moment before taking a deep breath; she should probably inform her Leader that she had…learned a Jutsu from the forbidden scroll. She gulped and opened her mouth again. "Hokage-sama…Naruto and I…we…decided to read the forbidden scroll...and we learned a Jutsu from it…the Kage Bunshin…" She said hesitantly.

The Hokage leaned forward at his desk, placing his shoulders on the desktop, and joining his hands together in front of his mouth, a grim look was on his face. Reiko shivered at the grimness on her Hokage's face and dread filled her. 'Ooh…I am so screwed…' Reiko thought fearfully.

"I figured as much, Miss Inoue." Came the Hokage's stern voice. 'Very, very screwed' If Reiko could've paled any further; she would've at this moment. "However there is no punishment for reading the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing. The punishment comes from the price to be paid for using such skills learned from it in the first place. And there is no one to punish for taking the scroll in the first place. Had Mizuki been taken alive, he would've been executed for his Treason and Murder. Just remember, that using the Kage Bunshin is Punishment enough"

Reiko blinked, then blinked again, and finally blinked for a third time as she processed the fact that she wasn't going to have the world come crashing down around her. She stumbled back onto a chair that had conveniently appeared behind her and stared hard at the Old Man. The Hokage lowered his hands and hidden behind them was a grin. Reiko's jaw dropped. He put the fear of god into her and he was _smiling_? Then she realized it, he was messing with her. The evil bastard was messing with her. "Ohh, I'm gonna get you for that. Naruto-Style, Old man. One of these days I'm going to get you back for that!" Reiko promised, shocked out of her depression for a moment by the Hokage's 'prank.'

Just then, the door smashed opened and a little scarf wearing kid flew through it, holding a shuriken. "Old Man, Prepare to fight!" The Hokage let out an exasperated sigh and thought 'Oh, lord…It never ends does it?' The little kid suddenly got tangled up in his scarf and fell over right in front of Reiko. 'The heck?' Reiko thought in surprise as she stared down at the tangled heap in front of her.

"Ahh! Damn it! Who the heck set that trap!" The kid yelled as he rubbed his head. The kids tutor followed in moments after and exclaimed, rather loudly, that there wasn't any trap, but the kid didn't seem to hear him.

The kids gaze turned to Reiko and they stared at each other in surprise. The tutor turned as well and snidely turned his lip up as he recognized Reiko. 'The demon brat's little thrall it seems.' The tutor thought, 'Would've been better if both of them died.'

"You…" The little kid growled at Reiko. "You did something! I know you did! You stupid bitch!' The kid yelled, causing Reiko's and Sarutobi's eyebrows to twitch. "Watch your language you stupid little punk! I didn't do anything!" Reiko yelled in response and got up from the chair she had fallen back on before grabbing the kid by the collar of his shirt, taking a hand full of his scarf with it and pulled him up to look her in the eyes.

"Release him this instant! He is the Grandson of the 3rd Hokage-sama!" The tutor screamed while waving his arms about frantically.

"Eh? This brats your grandson?" Reiko asked as she looked at the Hokage, surprised. Sarutobi let out another sigh before nodding, "That he is…that he is…" Reiko gritted her teeth as she looked down at the brat that called her a stupid bitch. Her friends-no family had just died yesterday, and while she was joking just a few moments ago, it was something to get her mind away from the fact, that and she _knew_ the Third to a fairly familiar level.

"Listen here brat, I just lost my family yesterday and I am in no mood to deal with bull shit, you got that?" She said darkly causing the kid to blink a few times. "Ha! Yeah right! Like I'm gonna believe some lame excuse like that! You're just afraid to do anything to me cause my Grandpa's the Hokage!" The little kid shouted arrogantly and caused his Grandfather to wince.

One could almost hear Reiko's teeth grinding together as her face contorted in rage. "I was trying to be nice…" Reiko said with a deadly calm. "But now…I don't think I will be…and for the record…I DON'T CARE WHO YOUR GRANDFATHER IS!" Reiko screamed as she took a step forward, arm cocked back before throwing a white knuckled fist into the side of kids face.

The kid spun around as he was hit squarely in the side of the face, before collapsing onto the ground. He lay there in a pain filled daze and moaning in pain.

"By your leave, Hokage-sama" She growled out as she flexed the hand she used to hit the kid with. 'If only every sigh I've had to sigh today could finish a bit of my paper work…I'd be done for the day' The Hokage thought with another sigh and waved his hand dismissively at Reiko, who immediately turned and left the building.

* * *

**Late Afternoon**

For the last hour, Reiko had been wondering about Konoha aimlessly, not wanting to return to the now completely empty apartment. Maybe she should've asked the Hokage to see if there was a place she could move into, perhaps on the other side of Konoha, since her shared apartment held too many fond memories of her time with Naruto.

For half of that last hour, she had been followed by the same pest who dared insult her in the Hokage's office. She kept at least two kunai on her persons at all times and she was sorely tempted to simply chuck one at the troublesome brat. But she couldn't since it was the Hokage's Grandson and she doubted she would be let off the hook for that. Killing a Traitor, a Murderer and a Potential Rapist was one thing. Killing an annoying civilian child who happened to be her superiors' immediate family was another. But God was it tempting.

Reiko stopped short but didn't turn around instead she simply growled, "Brat…Stop following me or I'm seriously going to do something I'm going to regret." When she failed to get a response or hear footsteps scampering away from her, she turned around and balked at the sight before her. The stupid kid was trying to hide with _sheet_ of all things.

'Kid wants to pretend to be a ninja, huh? Well…Let's just see how the brat likes it when he's found out' Reiko thought as she grinned darkly and pulled out one of her hidden kunai. With a small flick of her wrist, she sent the Kunai flying, aiming just above the kids head, just enough to cut off a few hairs from atop his head.

The kid dropped the sheet and slid down the fence he was 'hiding' against, pale and staring at Reiko in horror and fear. Something in which she couldn't help but take some sick pleasure in. "Opps…I seem to have missed. Looks like I'm getting a bit rusty…" She said for added effect and even mixed in a disappointed sigh. It was a priceless moment as the kids' mouth dropped and he paled even further, even trying to crawl backwards away from her.

Reiko couldn't hold it in any longer as she burst in a fit of giggles. "Oh, get up. I knew where I was aiming and I didn't miss. If I did well…it's not like you would know." The kid gulped in response and thought that this girl was absolutely crazy. But perfect to teach him how to defeat his Grandfather.

"Y-you…Your perfect!" The kid exclaimed loudly before jumping to his feet, completely shocking Reiko in the process. "The…fuck..?" Reiko blinked in shock, normally she didn't curse this was definitely a situation that warranted it. "You're gonna be my Boss from now on! So teach me how to defeat my Grandpa!"

"You're kidding me right? First you call me a Stupid bitch, and then you say the deaths of my family is a 'lame excuse' and then you stalk me throughout half of Konoha and you want me to _teach_ you?" Reiko said in disbelief. "Absolutely not"

The kid deflated at that before bring out his ultimate weapon. "You have to! I'm the Hokage's Grandson!" Ha! That _always_ worked. "I thought we established that I don't care who your family is when I decked you _in front of your Grandfather_" Obviously he'd already forgotten that fact.

"Apologize" "Huh?" Came his intelligent response. "I said apologize and I'll consider it" "Erm…I'm-I'm sorry for…calling you're a stupid bitch and stuff…?" The kid said uneasily and fearfully, after all, who knew what else this crazy woman was going to do. "All right. That's good enough for me. To defeat your Grandfather, you're gonna need some unusual tactics. Not whatever you've been doing lately, cause it's obviously not working" Reiko said with a devious grin. Oh, yes. She would get her payback for the Old Man scaring the hell out of her and it would be oh so sweet. The kid nodded eagerly.

**Back with the Hokage**

The tutor was raising a fuss as he couldn't find his charge. For five full minutes he had been running around the tiny office looking for him before the Hokage finally spoke up. "I believe he followed Reiko. Find Reiko and you'll likely find him" The Hokage stated calmly. The Tutor simply nodded and rushed out of the room.

'I shouldn't be too worried if he is in fact with Reiko. She's always been in good control over her actions…then again with the deaths of Naruto and Iruka…she might do something…stupid. I doubt it would be anything drastic but…Damn. This is _not_ my day' Sarutobi thought, sighing for the umpteenth time.

About an hour later he suddenly shivered as a feeling of dread suddenly washed over him. "T-this feeling…is someone channeling Naruto..? This doesn't bode well for me…" He groaned.

**Back with Reiko**

"First off kid, what's your name? I'm Inoue, Reiko" She said as she walked into a nearby park with the kid trailing behind like some little puppy. "Eh? Oh! Right! My names Konohamaru…Grandpa named me after the village…but nobody calls me that...It's always 'Honored Grandson this' or 'Honored Grandson that' it gets-" "Whoa ki-Konohamaru, hold up. I asked you your name, not your life's story" Reiko interrupted. "Personally I don't care about your life's story. You wanted to learn something to defeat the Old Man with, right? Well…My…" She winced slightly before shaking her head continuing, "Naruto and I made the Perfect Jutsu for the job."

Konohamru's eyes went large, almost saucer like and he practically began bouncing in joy. "R-really? And you're gonna teach me that Jutsu?" "Mmm…Yep." She said with a nod and a grin before murmuring "Revenge is sweet" "Huh? You say something?" "Nope! Didn't say a word!" She replied innocently.

Once arriving in a fairly secluded area of the park, she told Konohamaru to sit down as she went into 'teacher mode'. "Ok, Konohamaru, this technique is called 'Sexy no Jutsu' and it's something that we made a year or so ago. We've managed to knock out the Old Man a few times while using it. Now, Naruto used to use it more than I did simply because I didn't like using it that much. But I'll teach it to you"

It was just then that Konohamaru's teacher arrived. "Aha! Found you at last, Honored Grandson! Now get away from that little trouble maker at once!" He said with a glare directed at Reiko, which caused her to roll her eyes. Some of the people, though not many, in Konoha had treated her the same as Naruto due to her association with him.

"No way!" Konohamaru shouted as he jumped to his feet. "She said she was gonna teach me how to beat Grandpa! I'm not gonna leave till she teaches me how to do it!" This caused the Tutor to snort in amusement. "Honored Grandson, she is only a Genin. A _recently graduated_ Genin at that! She couldn't possibly teach you anything! I, on the other hand, am a Tokubetsu Jonin!"

"Hey, Konohamaru, I'm going to show you a variant of that Jutsu I was gonna teach you. So you can see the effects of its power first hand. Watch closely, got that?" Reiko said as she cracked her knuckles. Konohamaru looked to her expectantly and full of excitement since he was going to see the technique in use to defeat someone.

"Do you know how I am, little girl? I am Ebisu, The Honored Grandsons Tokubetsu Jonin tutor! You can't possibly lay a hand on me!" He said as he dropped into a Taijutsu stance. "Arrogance will be your downfall" Reiko simply said. "Mine? Ha. You're wrong. It will be yours, Genin" Came his snide reply.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" She murmured and suddenly fifty clones erupted into existence. "Wow! That's Amazing Onee-san! Is that the Jutsu?" 'Onee-san? Since when am I that? Wasn't I suppose to be boss?' Reiko thought for a moment, slightly confused, before shrugging it off. "Nah this isn't it. But its needed for that variant I was telling you about"

"I will admit the number of Kage Bunshin you can create is impressive, but that alone shall not defeat me" Ebisu said over Reiko's and Konohamaru's little dialogue. "Oh, I know that. I know I could never defeat a Tokubetsu Jonin by simply using traditional stuff…but Naruto…he was anything but traditional" Every time she said Naruto's name, it was laced with sadness.

"Anyways, Ebisu-san…it's time to end this…Henge!" All fifty Reiko clones muttered the same exact word. "You think a simple Henge can beat me? How Naïve, eh?" Ebisu blinked as the smoke cleared. Fifty Reiko's had transformed into fifty mid-teenaged range red-haired young women with a very voluptuous figure and very much naked. Ebisu's mind froze as he looked upon the face of the clones. He had been alive during the last Great War and had seen some pretty big figures in it, mostly at a passing glance, but he recognized the faces of the young women in front of him, but that was only for a moment as he glanced down at the rest of their bodies.

He erupted in a geyser of blood before tumbling over, unconscious, onto the ground before Reiko dispelled the clones. "Well…that takes care of that!" She said as she rubbed her hands together, as if wiping off dirt from them.

Konohamaru walked up to his tutor and poked him with a stick before turning to face Reiko. "You...you beat him…with that? And…that can beat Grandpa!" "Yep" Reiko simply replied. "And I'm gonna teach it to you. Now…here's what you do…" Reiko began explaining and teaching him how to perform the Sexy Jutsu. Using a clothed version of it so Konohamaru could practice. She couldn't wait until Konohamaru attacked the Old Man next. He was in for one hell of a surprise and that thought made her cackle with glee.

* * *

**Three Days Later. The Funeral.**

It had been decided that a partial truth would be told to the Village on how Iruka, Naruto and Mizuki had died. The 'truth' that was told said that Mizuki, who had used Henge to make himself appear as Naruto, had stolen the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing. The Real Naruto saw the fake and proceeded to chase after him, followed closely behind by Iruka. Reiko, worried about Naruto, who had stayed out later then he said he was going to, went out to find him, eventually tracking him and Iruka into the forest where she witnessed the aftermath of a brutal attack. Mizuki had killed Iruka and mortally wounded Naruto before starting to gloat over the fact. Reiko, enraged by the loss of Naruto and Iruka, used a Katon Jutsu to kill the traitorous Mizuki. Naruto later died from his wounds. Moments after that, the Hokage and the ANBU arrived.

That was the story told to the uninformed to explain the reasons behind the death. However, most people within the village felt the need to celebrate the death of the Kyuubi brat and the Kyuubi itself. Rather large parties had broken out all over Konoha almost immediately after the story was brought to the public's attention.

The burials for Iruka and Naruto took place the same day at different times so that the friends of both could attend both burials without missing one. Iruka's took place in the Morning while Naruto's took place in the mid-afternoon.

Reiko half expected it to be cloudy with lots of thunder, lightning and massive amounts of rain, but it turned out to be a very clear day with hardly a cloud in the sky. She couldn't help but smile weakly at the weather, very bright and sunny, just like Naruto was.

There was a vast difference in the two funerals. Iruka's had friends and teammates there to honor his memory, along all the students he had taught for, past and present. Words of remembrance were spoken as Iruka's casket was lowered into the ground before buried the old fashion way, with shovels. Reiko didn't have the heart to say anything, preferring to keep her thoughts on Iruka to herself. No one needed to know that both Naruto and Reiko looked to Iruka almost as a 'Father figure.' They didn't deserve to know.

Naruto's burial was worse, having hardly anyone showing up to pay proper respects. The ANBU and select Jonin had been ordered to keep the general populace away from Naruto's grave as the people generally wanted to desecrate and trample on Naruto's final resting place. It was only the Hokage who had kept Reiko from launching lethal Jutsu into the crowd of unwell-wishers, due to all their shouts of glee over Naruto's death.

Reiko could count the number of people actually paying their respects to Naruto on her two hands. The Hokage being one, Five ANBU, still in Uniform and doubling as the Hokage's Inner Guard, Teuchi and Ayame. It broke Reiko's heart due to the lack of people that had shown up to pay their respects. The fact that no students appeared at Naruto's funeral almost made her enraged at her classmates before she realized that the parents were likely preventing them from coming for some reason or another.

She spoke a few, softly spoken, but rage and sadness filled words. She didn't go into many details since everyone attending knew intimate details about Naruto and all his antics. Having heard many from him himself. She told them of her views on everyone, letting them all hear the more private thoughts that she and Naruto had kept to themselves. Teuchi had been almost like an Uncle to them and Ayame like an Older Sister at times, given how many times she had scolded Naruto and Reiko over the years for their pranks. Reiko even thanked the five ANBU who had decided to pay their respects, thanking them for helping and protecting them the best they could over the years.

It was there Reiko made an Announcement.

"Naruto's dream, for as long as I've known him, has been to be acknowledged by the people of Konoha in a positive light. To have people respect him, to like him, and to be nice to him, for who he was and not for what they mistook him to be. You all heard him shouting that he would become the greatest Hokage that Konoha has ever known…I mean, who couldn't? Naruto had the biggest pair of lungs that I've ever heard…made me deaf on more the one occasion…" Reiko laughed softly, recalling all the good and sometimes annoying times they had shared before shaking her head and continuing. "But he can't become Hokage now…and all I ever wanted was to be able to support Naruto and now I can't do that.

"So I've decided. Naruto's dream will NOT die with him. I'll…I'll take up his dream and I'll become the Greatest Hokage this Village has ever seen!" Reiko promised vehemently to her small audience, her hands balled into tight little white knuckled fists. "And I promise to you all…I will raze the Old Konoha to the ground and make a New Konoha…One that will never again put someone through the same fate that had befallen Naruto!" Passion blazed like a thousand suns within her. Sarutobi saw _and_ sensed that and smiled, the Will of Fire burned brightly, brighter than he had seen in it burning a long, long time. Or so he thought as he mistook the source of her passion.

Reiko saw the Thirds smile and smiled back at him, her grief temporarily forgotten. She noticed the others smiling too, well, she noticed Teuchi and Ayame smiling but couldn't tell what the ANBU were thinking. She hoped they approved too.

The rest of Naruto's funeral went by rather quickly, no doubt in part to the lack of people. But it left Reiko emotionally drained as she slowly walked back to her empty apartment. Yes, she definitely needed a new place, this old place smelled like him, and it made her heart clench painfully.

* * *

**Days Later at the Academy for Team Assignments.**

For the immediate days following the Funerals until it was time to return to the Academy for Team Assignments, Reiko had holed herself up in the little apparent she and Naruto once shared, sending Kage Bunshin to fetch groceries and other necessities for her. The time alone allowed her to wallow, privately, in her grief as she didn't want to appear weak from her loss when she would finally return to the Academy. During that time alone, Reiko came to realize just how much she depended on Naruto as a pillar of support. He was her only true _physical _constant in her life, someone always there for her. Oh, she could just remake him with the same technique that was used to make him the first time, but she assumed he wouldn't be the same as all she thought she had were _her_ memories of _him_. She never realized just what the Kyuubi had done with Naruto's memories. To her, at the present, remaking Naruto would simply be an insult to his memory…not that she could get away with bringing him 'back to life' at the moment anyways.

When the day finally came to return to the Academy for team placement, Reiko froze outside the main entrance as she realized something she had forgotten earlier. Hinata. She had forgotten about _Hinata_ and _her_ feelings for Naruto. Poor girl had strong feelings for him…his death must've been devastating on her, Reiko thought.

To be perfectly honest, Reiko didn't want to be in the same room as Hinata, let alone face her. She failed to keep Naruto alive and now she had to come face to face with a girl who apparently was either crushing very hard on Naruto or actually loved him. 'I only hope she doesn't blame me for his death…then again…I do deserve it. It was my fault for letting him die, for freezing up like that!' She thought as she squeezed her eyes firmly together as her eyes started to burn from tears wanting to form.

And then she heard what sounded like a stampede and intense almost glass shatteringly high pitched squeals of insults coming from the same direction as the 'stampede'. It was Sakura and Ino. Reiko pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "What a lovely way to start off the day…They seem to have recovered quickly from Naruto's death" She murmured darkly to herself before heading into the class room.

All conversation stopped as the other students realized who just walked in. They glanced around at each other, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, before they very slowly and very quietly resumed their conversations.

Their actions caused Reiko to shake her head slightly and sigh. Quickly scanning the room, Reiko spotted Hinata sitting up in the back by herself, looking a little more worse for wear than usual. 'Must be because of Naruto's death…Lord knows I don't look very good myself…' She thought as she walked up to the last row and took a seat next to Hinata.

"Hina—Hyuuga-san…I wanted to…apologize for-" "Don't" Hinata interrupted. "Y-you did…e-everything you could…a-and you a-avenged N-Naruto-k-kun.." Hinata stuttered softly, likely more due to grief then anything else. Some slight movement caught Reiko's eyes so she glanced down toward that general direction and noticed that Hinata's hands gripping the hem of her jacket tightly.

"If you…want to blame me, that alright…It was my fault that Naruto died. I could've reacted faster! I should've reacted faster…I shouldn't have frozen up like that…I-I'm sorry, Hinata…"

"Don't Apologize!" Came Hinata's rather loud, and sharp, reply, shocking the hell out of Reiko and apparently the rest of the class as well. A soft 'troublesome' could be heard. "I don't blame you…I-I want to..b-but I can't…N-Naruto-kun…would h-hate me…if I-I did…" Her voice tapered off as tears started to spill from her eyes. "T-thank you, Hinata. I…I can't tell you how much it means to me to hear that…" Reiko whispered as she scooted closer to Hinata and gently hugged the crying girl.

The class had been staring ever since Hinata's outburst and quickly drew Reiko's attention and her ire. "Screw off!" Reiko snapped at her fellow Genin, causing them to flinch and turn away, just as a Chunin walked in with a scroll in her hands and a raised eyebrow due to the exclamation she heard as she had entered.

"Alright Everyone, I've got your team Assignments right here! So listen up! I'm only saying this once! Team One: Still in Circulation. Team Two…" Reiko turned the Chunin out as she kept her arm around the sniffling girl at her side.

"Team 7 will be comprised of Genin Inuzuka Kiba, Genin Haruno Sakura, and Genin of the Year: Uchiha Sasuke"

Hearing this, Sakura leapt out of her seat, yelling a loud "Yes!" and "In your face, Ino-pig! Sasuke-kun is Mine!" That outburst however ticked off the Chunin Kunoichi tremendously. "Sit Down Genin Haruno!" The Chunin barked loudly, causing Sakura to flinch with a surprised squeal. Ino and Kiba found this tremendously funny until they too drew the Chunin's ire as well.

"Team 8 will be comprised of Genin Aburame Shino, Genin Hyuuga Hinata, and Kunoichi of the Year: Inoue Reiko."

Reiko and Hinata looked at each other before looking over to their third team mate before shrugging. Who were they to question the Team placements.

"Ah..Excuse me..Permission to speak freely M-Ma'am?" Reiko hesitantly asked the Chunin as she was looking over the Scroll to read out the next team.

"Keep it short, Genin Inoue" The Chunin Prompted. "R-right. Why am I 'Kunoichi of the Year'? The title belonged to Ino—I mean Genin Yamanaka at Graduation" As Reiko spoke, both Ino and Sakura perked up to listen, they were curious too as Ino's academic grades put her well ahead of Reiko.

"That's simple, Genin Inoue. You distinguished yourself above the rest of your classmates when you killed the traitorous Mizuki. Due to him being a Chunin and you being a Genin, you were awarded with the title of 'Kunoichi of the Year'" The elder Kunoichi responded in a firm, commanding sounding tone.

"I-I see, Ma'am. Thank you for telling me"

"Is that all, Genin Inoue?"

"Yes, Ma'am, It is. Thank you"

"Now then, lets continue. Team 9: Still in Circulation. Team 10 will be comprised of Genin Akimichi Choji, Genin Nara Shikamaru, and Genin Yamanaka Ino. That is all for the Team Assignments. Your Jonin Instructors will be here soon to come collect you." The Chunin rolled up the scroll and turned to leave, but stopped just short of the door.

"Genin Inoue!" She barked, causing Reiko to jump out of her seat and into a formal posture. "M-Ma'am?" "Hokage-sama would like to see you later after Team 8 is finished for the day. Your Jonin Instructor is most likely informed of Hokage-sama's desire to see you and will probably remind you. That is all" The Chunin said firmly, before using Shunshin to head to her next location. Leaving the class to sweat drop and wonder why she had walked to the door in the first place.

"W-well Aburame-san, get over here…We might as well sit together as we wait for our Instructor." Reiko suggested hesitantly, more than just a little unnerved due to the Chunin's formerly commanding presence. "That would seem like a prudent idea, Inoue-san, Thank you" "No problem…a-and call me Reiko, we're teammates now"

"Understood, Reiko-san. Please call me Shino then." Reiko nodded in response before looking to the clock mounted on the wall. Hopefully their Instructor wouldn't wait too long to come pick them up.

* * *

AN: Well…this is the First Revision of Chapter 2. In the future, like I said in Chapter 1, I'll likely be revising this chapter again as well. Needless to say…I'm never happy with what I write…as if I don't stop myself, I end up doing something over and over and over again (When in regards to writing) that I get nowhere.

Thank you for reading Chapter 2 of 'The Power of Corruption'!

**Edited:** 8/11/2012

Signed,

Kit the (Doing my best with this story!) Fiendish Fire Cat~!


	3. Team 8 revised

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Naruto.

AN: I still haven't gotten the pairings Locked yet so they can still change depending on how I feel it would better suit the story.

I'm going to…try blurring the lines between Benevolent and Malevolent pertaining to…certain characters. Such as doing _whatever_ it takes to achieve ones desires, even if that means 'playing nice' when they really aren't.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Team 8**

**Hokage's Office. Concurrent with team placement.**

"…And those are the teams. Do any of you have questions, comments, or requests regarding the Team configurations?" The Hokage's stern voice carried over his Jonin filled office. Most of the Jonin's shook their heads, fine with the placement of the newly anointed Genin, however a certain silver haired Jonin stepped forward. "Yes, Kakashi?" The Hokage said, prompting Kakashi to speak.

"I have a request, Hokage-sama. I don't believe the current placement of a few Genin would fully take advantage of their abilities. All of us here have read or at least skimmed over the files on all the new Genin and their aptitudes…as such, I feel that placing Genin Inoue Reiko on Kurenai's team, no offense Yuuhi-san,-" Kurenai simply nodded, Reiko had high aptitude for both Genjutsu and Ninjutsu, so she could understand what Kakashi was getting at. "- would be detrimental to her growth. So I request that Genin Inuzuka Kiba be transferred off my team and Genin Inoue transferred to mine."

"I'll need more reason than that to transfer her off of Team 8, Kakashi, you know that. The rest of you, if you have no other concerns with your teams, you may leave to pick them up. Kurenai, you'll be staying as this concern's your team. And Asuma, you stay as well; I need to have a word with you." Sarutobi said as he leaned back in his chair and joined his hands on his lap as he looked down at the placement chart and the pile of individual Genin files from the graduates. All the Jonin nodded, before the ones that could leave, left out the door before using Shunshin to get to the Academy.

"Continue, Kakashi" The Third said, earning another nod from the Jonin. "Yes, Sir. Team 8 is listed to be a…Force Recon team, for use in Search and Destroy, Search and Rescue, and Reconnaissance-type missions. Genin Inuzuka's skills work best towards that role given his Clan's abilities. That is my primary reason for requesting the transfer of Genin Inoue to my team and Genin Inuzuka transferred to Kurenai's." As Kakashi finished speaking, he stepped back in line next to Kurenai and Asuma.

"Kurenai, your thoughts on the matter at hand?"

"Thank you, Hokage-sama…" She murmured as she stepped forward and bowed slightly. "While I can agree with Kakashi's statement, he's not looking at the overall balance of the teams. The Uchiha has High aptitude for Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Medium-High for Taijutsu, while Genin Haruno has medium aptitude for Ninjitsu and Genjutsu, and Low for Taijutsu. Genin Inuzuka has Low aptitude for Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, but Extremely High for Taijutsu.

"Putting those three on the same team balances out the strengths and weaknesses of their aptitudes. You, Kakashi, are experienced in all Areas and can help shape them into a balanced Team." Kurenai paused to take a breath, before continuing.

"My Team _is_ designed to do Recon, S&D, and S&R missions as I have a Hyuuga and a Aburame on my Team. Both Clans have a historically high rating in Taijutsu. The Hyuuga more so than the Aburame, for obvious reasons…Hokage-sama, if I may have the file for Genin Inoue…?" The Hokage nodded and raised a hand to wait a moment as he dug through the files on his desk before pulling out Reiko's file and handing it to Kurenai.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama. If you look at Genin Inoue's aptitudes, she shows the highest aptitude for Genjutsu out of all her classmates, even more so than the Uchiha br-kid-" She winced at her nearly very unprofessional slip up "-It's the highest I've seen, from anyone, in years. Her potential for Genjutsu is simply astonishing!" She said, her voice raising slightly due to the excitement of potentially being able to train someone with such high Genjutsu Aptitude. It drew looks towards her from Asuma and Kakashi as they weren't used to hearing Kurenai of all people sounding 'overly' excited about something. Then again it WAS related to Genjutsu, her Forte.

"For her Genjutsu aptitude alone, putting her on my Team is the best choice…and having someone trained in Genjutsu and to detect Genjutsu…would do wonders for a Recon Team, as Genjutsu can blind all the senses. Rendering Sight, Hearing, Smell, and Touch useless. Some Genjutsu can even fool Doujutsu's if powerful enough. Due to that, Genjutsu could be used to hide a Recon team moving into an area or help them cover their tracks for a bit to make an escape. I…I'm finished, Hokage-Sama…" She muttered and stepped back in line while subtly biting down on her lower lip as she was worried that she might lose a potential Genjutsu Apprentice, after all, Konoha didn't have many Genjutsu specialists. She also knew that her argument could've been stronger as well as she thought over what she said.

"Now, your thoughts Kakashi?" Sarutobi asked with a raised eyebrow. Kurenai had pretty much hit the nail on the reason why Reiko had been posted to her team. It had been a tossup originally, until it became clear that putting Kiba on Team 8 would've made actually weakened Team 8 by overspecializing and overspecialization could actually have lethal consequences. Plus he didn't want to deal with the political fallout if a team with Three Heirs died because of it.

"I …Hadn't really thought of that, Hokage-sama. I'll…ah...Concede to Kurenai on that point. Though I would like to request specialized joint training sessions between Teams 7 and 8 for the purpose of…bettering other attributes that would be…otherwise unattended due to the teachers lack of proficiency in specific areas." Kakashi said sounding more than a little bit embarrassed due to the fact he, a Former member of ANBU, had missed those facts.

"I'm surprised you had to ask that, Kakashi. I would've expected my Jonin to do that automatically as to maximize their team's potential. I think your…habits have become detrimental to your abilities as a Ninja. I do hope that isn't the case" Sarutobi spoke softly, but a barbed threat hung in his voice. If Kakashi didn't shape up then there would be…consequences, such as a possible demotion for retraining. Kakashi had heard the barb and straightened his posture out, "Yes, Hokage-sama!" He barked out in response.

"Now it's a good thing you conceded, Kakashi. I would've had to deny your request. I assembled these teams personally, given _My_ and the Clans numerous personal interests in this year's graduates. Having _Seven_ clan heirs this year has put a lot of strain on me to make sure that the potential of the Genin is thoroughly exploited so that they receive the most beneficial training. Not that they wouldn't before, but it wasn't as…specialized." Sarutobi said dryly, remember how the Clan Heads had practically hounded him to form the teams himself.

He also idly noticed Kakashi had started to shift around very slightly, causing him to chuckle. It was always amusing to him when he got his Ninja's uncomfortable while in his presence, it was some minor relief from his nemesis, paperwork.

"Kakashi, Kurenai if there is nothing else; you are dismissed to pick up your teams. As for you, Asuma…" Both Kakashi and Kurenai left the office before heading to the Academy in the same fashion that the previous Jonin had, well, Kurenai did. Kakashi went off to some quiet place to read his "Book" in peace…and well away from any Kunoichi.

Sarutobi turned and eyed his son, put his pipe into his mouth and chewed on the end for a moment. Asuma stood waiting for his father to talk; his posture was laidback, slacked shoulders, and a tooth pick in his mouth, which he nibbled on. A poor substitute for a cigarette, he thought.

"Your team…is going to need a lot of coaxing. I'm telling you-No, ordering you to do whatever it takes to shape those kids into proper Ninja. The Nara and Akimichi heirs, I know, have had personal training with their families; to be Ninja's...but the Yamanaka girl...I fear you will have trouble with. She cares little for the life of a Kunoichi and would rather chase boys. Beat that out of her if you must, or break her to make her resign. I would rather not send someone unfit to be one of my Ninja out into the field to be killed or worse." Sarutobi said darkly, his gaze level with Asuma's.

"Don't worry, Old Man, I'll make sure she's competent enough to get out into the field. I'm curious why you didn't issue the same command to Kakashi. He does have that other boy chaser on his team."

"Hm…" Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and thought to himself while stroking his beard. "Perhaps I should. No, I think I'll leave Kakashi to his own devices and we'll see how it turns out. The girl wanted to be a Kunoichi, let's see if she has the motivation to actually become one…Call her a base test, on how well the Student of a Former ANBU will do compared to the Student of a former member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja."

Asuma's eyes darkened for a moment, thinking of the possible implications that his father's words meant. "So you're issuing me a warning because my student is the Heir to one of our clans? But not to Kakashi because his student in question is the daughter of a Civilian?"

The only indication that that accusation had sparked any emotion within Sarutobi was the sudden destruction of his pipe as his grip instantly tightened around it. "No. I'm worried that you might jeopardize their lives by following your own Agenda's like you did so many years ago. Kakashi understands the consequences of what might happen if he…messes up. You, however...have already run away from your responsibilities once before and have done little to restore my confidences in you. So…if Three Clan Heirs die because of _your thoughtlessness_ I won't protect you from the consequences. Family or not" His voice was a deadly calm as he spoke and his eyes like diamond.

Asuma's face contorted in anger but kept his mouth shut as he glared at his father. Personally Asuma felt his father was wrong, conveniently forgetting about the fact that it was _His_ choice to leave Konoha and join the Twelve Ninja Guardians and not his Fathers. That it was his own _personal_ issues that made him disregard his father's opinions before turning tail and running away from his responsibilities within the village. Though Asuma could, barely, differentiate his Father when it was Wearing the robes of a Hokage from when he wasn't.

Seeing that Asuma wasn't going to say anything to him right then and there, Sarutobi waved him out of his office. Once Asuma left, again without a word, he stared down at the fragments of his ruined pipe and groaned as that was his favorite pipe as of late. That meant he would have to get new one later on before returning home and dealing with Asuma when he wasn't wearing the robes of a Hokage.

* * *

**At the Academy**

Reiko drummed her fingers against the desk as she watched other Jonin's coming and picking up their teams before leaving in a timely fashion. Much to her annoyance, her team had yet to be picked up, though; it was a cold comfort that Teams 7 and 10 hadn't been picked up yet, either.

"I wonder what sort of team we'll be…" Reiko murmured idly to herself before resting her head on the palm of her hand. She sighed heavily; boredom was not something she was used to when Naruto was still around. Shino spoke just as she was about to regress into a mildly depressed state. "There is a high probability that we'll be a Reconnaissance Team" He had to speak up fairly loudly in order for his teammates to hear him over the screeches of Ino and Sakura.

"Recon? I…guess-no that does make a lot of sense, with your bugs and Hinata's eyes. My general senses are pretty darn good too. But...Kiba would be ideal for my spot though."

"I-I'm sure t-that the Jonin in charge…had t-their reasons f-for putting you on this team, Reiko-san" Hinata said softly and Reiko noted that her stuttering had slightly decreased and wondered if Naruto had been the major attributing factor of her stutters. She couldn't be sure as she hadn't really paid too much attention to many other people.

"Yes, I am a bit curious myself for their reasons, perhaps our Sensei will inform us of the Team setup."

"Perhaps…Well, just poke me or something when our Sensei arrives. I'm going to be meditating because those two are starting to give me a headache" Reiko said waved, with her free hand, in the fan girls direction before folding her hands onto her lap, closing her eyes and leaning back. It wasn't an ideal meditative position, but it would work well enough for her needs.

**Meditative State: Not quite inside the 'Seal'**

"**I was starting to think you had forgotten about me…"** The voice 'pouted'.

"Sorry, Okaa-sama, I've been…busy lately…and sorry for not coming in deeper to see you, I need to be fairly alert for when our Sensei arrives." Reiko said apologetically.

"**That's alright. I would've had to admonish you if you had gone that deep. And you don't have to apologize for not coming to speak with me. I have been watching, of course."**

Reiko chuckled and she could feel herself blushing lightly at the indirect praise her 'Okaa-sama' had given her, though she did mentally berate herself, since she _knew_ that her Okaa-sama could see things through her eyes.

"**And Reiko, dear…I do think it's time that you stopped calling me 'Okaa-sama'. I never did intend to become that to you."** Reiko could tell that her 'Mother' wanted to say more but she couldn't help but interrupt anyways. "B-but you've raised me! Taught me things other wouldn't have! Gave me this life! Why…do you want to stop being my 'Mother?'" Reiko yelled desperately, afraid that the calling her anything else would somehow damage their relationship.

"**I…probably shouldn't have put myself in a position to make you think that I wanted to become your Mother…But I had to do something for you, to try making your life better. Standing idly by to watch you get hurt wasn't something I couldn't do"** Her Mother-figure said softly and Reiko could almost feel the warmth of the words and the hug that would've accompanied it. **"I would rather be…something more than a Mother to you. Perhaps…An Older Sister type figure for now…and then, later, possibly something more~"**Reiko felt her head tilt as she processed her Mothers words. 'An older sister…? That's…not so bad, she'll still be with me…and I'd rather not anger Oka—Onee-sama…Ugh, this is going to be hard.' She thought with a grimace.

"A-Alright, O-Onee-sama" Reiko sighed; she almost, _almost,_ called her Mother again, but managed to catch herself. Then she heard faint giggling, causing her to pout. "Not funny…" She murmured. **"Ah, But it is funny, Reiko-chan~"** Her newly anointed 'Onee-sama' said in a singsong tone. **"It's nice to see you all flustered. Anyhow, have you thought about what you need to do in order to become 'Hokage'?"** Reiko noted how her Onee-sama had practically spat the word 'Hokage', but she couldn't blame her really, after being sealed by the Fourth.

"I have, yes. Being placed on a team with two Clan Heirs…is going to help me immensely. It'll take me a few years but by that time, those two might just be Clan Heads and having their backing will be very helpful in obtaining the title of Hokage." Reiko pursed her lips in thought before exhaling slowly.

"I think…I'll need to help Hinata's confidence. Because I really don't think the Hyuuga Clan would accept her at the present, not with them always trying to portray a strong, collected image to the rest of Konoha."

"**Yes…At this rate I would say she's on her way to becoming a Branch Member and her little sister becoming Clan Head…I really hate to say this but…I think Naruto's death might've actually helped us. It…would've taken him a long, long time to become Hokage, if ever"** She flinched slightly as her Onee-sama brought up Naruto's death, but could hear the remorse in the voice of her Onee-sama, so it gave her a little comfort that she cared about Naruto too.

"O-On…a different note…C-Can you tell me your name now, Onee-Sama…?" Reiko asked hesitantly and very shyly.

"**My name? I've told you, I've had many names over the years. I have, after all, been alive a very long time. Though being referred to as 'Kyuubi' is getting rather annoying."**

"I-it is…? But isn't that what you are?" **"Yes, that IS what I am but…how would you like it if you were referred to as 'Human' all the time"**The Kyuubi said tartly. "Erm…I can see how that would get annoying…So, you're gonna tell me your name now! Or...at least one of them?" Reiko asked hopefully. Not knowing the name of the person that had effectively raised her was very, very annoying.

"**Mm…Well, I guess I can tell you one of them. I think you're worthy enough to know now! Hm…But which one should I use…Aha! I know! Since I've been around for a long time and because I'm 'Long Lasting' you may refer to me as Hisa-onee-sama~!"** Hisa said, clearly sounding amused with herself and her 'cleverness'.

Reiko sweat dropped at the fun Hisa seemed to be having, but wondered what Hisa would want Reiko to call her next. After all, she had just went from Okaa-sama to Onee-sama.

Reiko was about to reply when Hisa spoke again, **"Ah, time to snap out of it, Reiko-chan~! Your sensei maybe here now."**

**Back to reality**

Reiko shivered as she brought herself out of her meditative state and suddenly sat up, causing Hinata to shriek as she was about to 'wake' Reiko back up. "Eh? Sorry Hinata-san, I didn't mean to scare you like that" Reiko said as she eyed a gasping Hinata. "I-it's ok…" Hinata responded softly.

"Team 8? Follow me" Kurenai said simply, drawing Reiko's and Hinata's attention before, they and Shino, nodded. "Team 10, your Sensei should be along shortly. He was held up by the Hokage. Team 7…" Kurenai sighed and shook her head, slightly embarrassed because of who their Sensei was and because she believed said Sensei was a disgrace to the Uniform, regardless of his achievements. "Your Sensei…will be here…in a while." The black haired woman said with a grimace.

She didn't receive much a reaction from Team 10. Ino had all but ignored her, Shikamaru didn't really move, and Choji simply looked up from his chips and nodded. Team 7 was much the same, however Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh. Kiba was extremely vocal, as he was yelling loudly at Kurenai trying to get answers, which, due to his actions, she wasn't going to give and promptly ignored him.

Shaking her head, Kurenai turned to leave with her Genin following silently behind her, leaving Teams 7 and 10 to deal with the loud mouthed Inuzuka. After about twenty minutes of walking Team 8 arrived at one of the numerous training grounds, a fairly open field with a few training dummies, there Kurenai turned around to address her students.

"My Name is Yuuhi Kurenai, I am, obviously a Jonin and your instructor for the foreseeable future. Now, I've read your files from the Academy, so I know you names and the abilities you've shown at the Academy. However I don't know who you _really_ are, so I'd like you to introduce yourselves and tell me a little about yourselves, like your dreams, likes, hobbies, and whatever else you may feel is relevant" Kurenai said in a soft yet commanding tone, which caused her Genin to stand up a little straighter. "You first" She said simply as she pointed to Shino.

Shino nodded softly before he started to speak, "Yes, Sensei…I am Aburame Shino, Heir to the Aburame Clan. I like studying the various species of Bugs that reside within Konoha and enjoy watching and collecting them as well. I hope to become a good Clan Head when the time comes and to fully support Konoha, my Team, and to aid and to not fail them." Shino said rather stoically.

"…Right. It's a pleasure to meet you, Shino" Kurenai said with a slight nod. "Like-wise, Sensei" Shino replied just before Kurenai pointed to Reiko and motioned her to speak.

"I'm…Inoue Reiko. I'm an Orphan, with no living family as of recently…" Everyone there knew she was referring to the loss of Naruto, "…and I like studying, training, relaxing and Salt Ramen. Hobbies…? Um…I don't think I really have any, unless Training is a hobby?" Reiko half smiled as she shrugged before she continued, "My Dreams? Well, My Dream is to uphold Naruto's Dream and become Hokage in his stead" She murmured with much vehemence. "Guess it's your turn now, Hinata-san" Reiko said with a soft smile as Kurenai once again nodded. Not that Kurenai needed an introduction from Hinata, given her past with her.

"I-I am Hyuuga Hinata, H-heiress to the H-Hyuuga clan…I like my m-my little sister and m-my favorite f-foods are zenzai and cinnamon r-rolls. I-I like pressing flowers as a h-hobby. My dream is to become a strong Clan H-Head and make my F-father proud of me…" Hinata stuttered softly out and seemed to shrink unto herself after having been 'put on the stand' and becoming embarrassed. Kurenai and Reiko smiled softly at Hinata, something which Kurenai noted, and told herself to ask Reiko about her…relationship with the Clan Heiress. As, according to what she could gather when she looked into the backgrounds of her students, Reiko didn't have any real connection to Hinata aside from being classmates…who didn't communicate with each other much.

Kurenai had seen the state of Reiko's apartment which Naruto had been sharing with her and wondered if Reiko might be trying to get close to Hinata due to her family's wealth. While she thought that unlikely, she needed to be sure Reiko wasn't trying to get close to Hinata with such an intention in mind. After all, Hinata's family was exceedingly rich, while Reiko had lived far below the poverty line, and that could create some…issues.

"Right, now that that's all out of the way, I would like to welcome you as official members of Team 8 as of now. Other Jonin Sensei will probably give their Genin team some sort of test to determine whether or not they'll keep those Genin. I'm not like them. I decided to keep you as my team after I read your files, since I believe you three have lots of potential and because I believe you can work together professionally. If you have any questions for me, please feel free to ask. I'm not as…uptight about protocols as other Ninja around the village are. Ah, Yes Reiko?" Kurenai said as Reiko rose her hand up.

"I was wondering what sort of Team we'll be, Kurenai-sensei. We think we might become a Reconnaissance Team, but, my presence here instead of Kiba's, I mean Genin Inuzuka, kinda…screws that up since he, given his family's attributes, would be better for a Recon Team" Reiko spoke softly and brought the attention of Shino and Hinata to her, as they wanted to know as well.

"You're correct in that this team is slated to become a Recon Team. The reason you're here and not Kiba is that the Hokage didn't want to overspecialize this team. Both Hinata and Shino can balance out your…level of Taijutsu, while you're aptitude for Ninjutsu and Genjutsu balances out Hinata's and Shino's, since they will mostly be using their Clan Techniques for the most part. We'll also be cross training with other Teams to help maximize potential and to help…increase those skills which are lacking" Kurenai said as gently as possible, she didn't want to possibly hurt Reiko's feelings since she had hinted about Reiko's poor Taijutsu abilities.

Reiko, however, did pick up on Kurenai's attempt to not insult her abilities or lack thereof in a certain area, as it was glaringly obvious to herself, but at least Kurenai did say that their team would be training with others, in order to help increase their overall abilities, so Reiko didn't get too annoyed by the truth of the matter. After all knowing the truth about a deficiency and getting called on it, not matter how 'softly,' stings regardless.

"Does that answer your question, Reiko?" Reiko, Hinata and Shino nodded as one, since the question was something they all wondered about. "Any other questions?" Reiko once again raised her hand, she was curious about this test Kurenai had mentioned just a few moments ago, and Kurenai once again prompted Reiko to speak.

"I'm curious about that test that other Jonin's make their teams take…what sort of test is it?"

"I'm glad you asked, Reiko. Some Jonin's may not want their team based on the files of the Genin assigned to them, so they are allowed to give their Genin a test to see whether or not they'll keep them.

"Some of them tell their Genin that if they don't pass they'll get sent back to the Academy or things like that. That isn't true, those Genin will just be transferred off to a different Jonin or into the Reserves, where they'll still receive training, but at a much slower rate and they won't be in locked teams, like the three of you will be.

"Often times, the Jonin will use those test as a form of scare tactic, to make see how the Genin do under pressure…and if they fail to meet the Requirements, the Jonin will most likely send them off to the Reserves" Kurenai finished as she thought about her fellow Jonin sensei, Kakashi, and how he unfairly failed any teams that got assigned to him by generally near issuing impossible conditions and making sure his Genin are in the worst shape possible for such tests.

He was also known to abuse his authority, even though nothing could be done since his orders were legal, by purposefully neglecting to tell his Genin whats needed for them to directly improve themselves and thus, aiding to their own failure. Or rather, that's how Kurenai perceived Kakashi's 'methods.' She also thought that it was immensely unfair since its pretty much hammered into Academy students to obey their future Chunin and Jonin Superiors and to look to them for the guidance they needed to become better Ninja.

Kurenai wasn't worried about how her Students would perform under pressure, given the history surrounding two of them. Reiko, she knew, could stand quite a lot of pressure due to how she grew up and because she was already 'bloodied'. She had seen death first hand and killed and it appeared that she had come through the experience, hurt, but generally ok.

Hinata could also stand a fairly large amount of pressure herself given her Father's harshness and coldness towards her, coupled with his brutal method of training. It might hurt Hinata, but it wouldn't completely break her…and when in the field the chances of her collapsing under pressure seemed slim, since she had never completely fallen to her Fathers cruelty and the fact that her Father knew 'what buttons to press' in order to demoralize her.

Lastly was Shino, who Kurenai was sure would be fine due to his families' calm, collected and logical behavior. But she would still have to watch him and the other two just in case.

"Is that it?" Kurenai asked and her Genin nodded pretty much as one. They didn't have any more questions for now, figuring they would learn more about their Sensei as time went by and that she would've told them anything they needed to know.

"Good" Kurenai said with a nod. "Since I'm not going to give you one of those ridiculous scare tactic tests, I do think we can begin with D-Ranked missions to kick things off since the day's still young. Just to let you know D-Rank's aren't glorious and usually never go outside of the Walls. They may seem menial and pointless, but they're there to help you get to know your fellow teammates better, to work on your team building, to let the Village see you, and to get to better know your home. That and I thought I would give you a fair bit of warning of what's to come." She said with a smirk and led them down to the Mission Office.

* * *

**Early Evening: A few hours later**

The D-Rank Mission they had managed to get was probably as glamorous as any D-Rank could most likely get. The mission details stated that a clumsy employee at one of the higher end pet grooming businesses in Konoha, was improperly dealing with occupied Travel Kennels and ended up setting nearly a dozen pets free.

The owners of the grooming business, desperate to get the pets back as soon as possible, shelled out 65,000 Ryo, to get the Mission listed as a priority D-rank. In the end Reiko, Shino and Hinata managed to get all the pets back before the end of the day. Due to their skill sets, they were able to corral the pets and return them to the Groomers safe and sound. Of course, the owners were a little disturbed at seeing a dozen Reiko's standing about, each holding onto one of the missing pets, quickly shrugged it off, since Konoha was a _Ninja_ Village after all.

Most of the pet retrieval went quickly as the three Genin quickly organized themselves on what skills they had that might help locate the pets. Shino had his swarms which he could and did send out around Konoha, while Hinata had her Byakugan, which proved invaluable in finding the pets. Lastly, Reiko had her Shadow Clones, which went out to search in teams of two. If they found a pet, both clones would attempt to get it. Once caught, the unneeded clone dispelled to inform the original of the capture. Though the clones only managed to catch three themselves. Shino's bugs managed to track down two of them, while Hinata's eyes found the rest.

If they encountered a pet in a fairly…disgusting location, such as hiding around rotting trash then a clone would be sent in to grab it the furry trouble maker.

Only one pet gave the Genin any trouble and caused a mixture of dread and amusement to fill Kurenai. It was a cat with a reddish-purple ribbon tied around its right ear, one little cat managed to avoid three Genin who had skills that made them perfect for Search operations, for nearly an hour and a half.

That cat's name was Tora. The bane of Genin teams for as long as Madam Shijimi had been the Fire Daimyo's wife. Over those years, there had been numerous cats named Tora, all desperately trying to get away from their over affectionate owner and away from the poor Genin tasked with bringing him, sometimes her, back to Madam Shijimi.

Team 8 had managed to track and corner the little monster on nearly half a dozen times that day, each time the thing managed to get away. To the amazement and absolute horror of the Genin, it had managed to "kill" two of Reiko's clones, before Hinata could, at Shino's suggestion, get in there with a Juukan strike to knock the little hellcat out.

Overall, the trio was rather happy with their first successful mission, even though Reiko vowed to kill the 'damned cat' if they ever had to go capture it again. That was until Reiko received her share of the mission reward, which came out to just under 17,000 Ryo, or approximately one-third of the amount paid for the mission.

It wasn't much, but the Hokage had cut off the stipend he had been giving Naruto, so that he could pay for his and Reiko's living expenses, when he had died. Thankfully Naruto, at Reiko's suggestion, had saved up quite a bit of whatever was left over, allowing Reiko to pay the expenses that only one person racked up. She found it surprisingly odd that it cost barely a fourth of what it had cost to live in that ratty apartment when Naruto was with her. But now, she could at least afford some fresh groceries, instead of freeze dried stuff, thanks to the mission reward.

Kurenai explained that that Jonin generally receive about 30% of the total amount paid for the mission, but since the client overpaid to get his mission upped in the Queue, due to the time sensitive nature of the mission, she got paid the with the excess.

"Congratulations on completing your first Mission!" Kurenai said with a small but warm smile as she looked over her charges. They did much better then she had expected when she decided to 'throw them directly into the fire' and passed her unofficial 'test' with nearly flying colors. "Tomorrow…we'll meet at Training Ground 13, at 0800 and start you on some chakra control exercises that are essential for all budding Ninja to know." Kurenai paused to let them take the information in before continuing to speak after seeing them nod. "Reiko, I need to have a word with you, in private, so Shino your dismissed…and Hinata, if you could wait over…there?" Kurenai said as she pointed to a tree about that was about fifteen meters away so that she could have a little privacy with Reiko. Shino nodded before heading back to his clan compound.

Hinata blinked and shot a confused look over to Reiko, who shrugged, before slowly nodding. "O-of course, Kurenai-sensei…" She murmured before slowly walking over to the tree, her hands in her coat pockets as she wondered what Kurenai could want with Reiko.

Reiko, equally confused, furrowed her eyebrows at Kurenai and crossed her arms in puzzlement."Um…Sensei…What do you need? I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything wrong during the mission…" Reiko said slowly as she looked over her memory of her performance today. She didn't see anything wrong with how she acted, well, aside from her desire to never see the hellcat again and if she did that she would kill it. 'I really hope this isn't one of those 'conduct unbecoming' speeches that I've gotten a few times at the Academy…' Reiko thought as both she and Kurenai watched Hinata walk off.

"Alright, I want to know of your intentions concerning Hinata" Kurenai said softly, getting straight to the point after Hinata was beyond the possibility of hearing their conversation. The question caused Reiko to do a double take since it wasn't the question she was expecting, so she stood there for a few long minutes blinking as her brain slowly processed the content of what Kurenai had said.

Reiko's face went deathly pale for a moment as she recalled some civilian girls' father asking a civilian boy his 'intentions' concerning his daughter after the boy came to pick the girl up from her house for a date. As she inhaled for a breath, her face did its best rendition of a tomato due to anger and embarrassment. "W-What the Hell! We're TWELVE years old, for god's sake!" Reiko screamed loudly at Kurenai in complete misunderstanding of what her Sensei was asking. Hinata heard the outburst and wondered just _what_ Kurenai was saying to Reiko.

Kurenai choked over Reiko's words, just now realizing how her words could be misinterpreted. "I...Ugh…I didn't mean for it to sound like I was implying that you wanted to do _that_ with Hinata" She said as she pinched the bridge of her nose before shaking her head with a sigh. "I want to know what your intentions are with her regarding how you're trying to get close to her…" She winced as she realized how her words could be, once again, misinterpreted.

"Let me put it this way" She said quickly just as a very red faced Reiko began to open her mouth again. "I'm worried that you may have feelings of jealousy over your…lack of social standing and that of Hinata's family. That you're trying to get close to her to get something _from_ her."

Reiko clamped her mouth shut over Kurenai's words before closing her eyes and taking in a deep and shaky breath. Her hands twitched as she wanted to ball them up into fists over the accusation. "Kurenai-sensei…" She started to say in a shaky, anger filled voice, "If you ever,_ever_, accuse me of something like that again…I'll kill you" She said softly as she opened her eyes, revealing that they were slightly darker and had slits in them.

The threat Reiko issued wasn't really of much concern to her as Reiko _was _just a Genin and because she could understand how someone with innocent intentions could be insulted by her insinuation. As such, Kurenai completely ignored Reiko's threat as there was literally no substance to it. The change in Reiko's eyes, however, surprised Kurenai, causing her to wonder if that was some sort of Doujutsu that she had never heard of. There wasn't any record of Reiko having one, but then again, Reiko's files were, assumed, lost during the Kyuubi attack.

"I'm sure you've noticed that Hinata had feeling for my-for Naruto…earlier today, I apologized to her for not being able to keep Naruto Alive, because I _knew_ she had feelings from him. I was friendly to her in the past because I've sat next to her a few times over the years and I sat next to her this morning because the seat was open. As for my 'intentions'" Reiko spat the word out vehemently. "We're on the same TEAM now. I should WANT to get to better know her, to become friends with her! After all, we're going to be spending god knows how many years together…as a TEAM!"

Reiko couldn't keep the tears out of her eyes. The accusation had hurt her deeply, that she would use Hinata in such a way. Yes, she was going to use Hinata in the future and yes, that use didn't require her friendship, but being all alone with only the Kyuubi and her Clone-Naruto, being the only two people who _truly_loved and cared for her, she wanted more people to surround herself with that could fill the need for acceptance. She also didn't want to be 'alone' anymore and simply getting close to people, no matter their 'value,' to use them as pawns was not how she wanted to live her life.

"I-I see" Kurenai said softly as she bit her lower lip gently. She wasn't expecting such a passionate response from the girl, nor for the question to hurt her as it did. As Kurenai thought deeper about it she realized that, by all accounts, Reiko wasn't a malicious person like she suggested, and that Reiko probably just wanted to make friends to make up for the hole in her 'family'. With a deep breath she apologized, in earnest, to Reiko, "Look, I'm sorry about how I worded my question but I've been tasked with Hinata's welfare for a few years now and I've seen how people try sucking up to those of wealth or power to extort things from them. I really didn't mean to insult you like I did."

"O-oh…I guess, I can understand that…" Reiko said softly, wishing she hadn't erupted like that. She was still pissed however that her Sensei, who should know her life's story by now due to her file, had assumed such a horrible thing. "I...can't forgive you for what you said…not yet…But eventually, since you were protecting someone close to you, so I can appreciate that…I probably would do the same if I had anyone…" She continued softly, before looking towards the ground.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them before Reiko spoke up again. "Can I…go home now?" Kurenai let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and nodded, "Yeah, just don't be late tomorrow" "Right…Good Night, Yuuhi-san" Reiko muttered as she turned away, not seeing Kurenai flinch.

Kurenai silently cursed herself, this was her first team and she was _not_ going to screw this up. Well, at least no more then what she already had. She shook her head and walked towards Hinata, who looked up at her with a concerned look. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with Hinata-chan. I just…crossed a boundary that I should've known not to cross, but I'll resolve it." She said as she placed a guiding hand on Hinata's shoulder as she escorted the Heiress back home. Hinata simply nodded and prayed for the best.

* * *

**Hokage's Office**

Sarutobi watched Team 8, through his Crystal Ball, whenever he could get away from the paper work to keep tabs on Reiko. He had been suspicious of her for years and he felt like he missed something extremely important the day Naruto died and he didn't like not knowing something about one of his Ninja.

He had originally let Reiko join the Academy as a way to further endear Naruto to him and to Konoha. He had succeeded beyond his wildest dreams at how emotionally dependant he had made Naruto to him but he knew he was old and he wouldn't live for much longer due to his advanced age. A few years at best. So he needed to make sure Naruto stayed loyal to Konoha after his death and Reiko had damn near been an angel in disguise for his plans.

But his gut had told him something was off about Reiko and there were _many_ unanswered questions revolving around her. And he learned to trust his gut, as it had kept him alive to this advanced age. Like if she lost her parents during the Kyuubi attack, who raised her? Why hadn't they reported her alive and gotten her registered? What happened to them? Where had the people who raised her, till the age of six, gone? Too many questions. At first, he thought she was an enemy Agent, but that was disproven after a detailed medical scan.

He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. But at least Konoha was no longer in danger of Naruto running away and returning later with a vengeance since his death. But his want for answers kept him watching Reiko and keeping his relationship with her in as much of a positive light as he still could. If he actually had a choice in the matter he would've never pulled the stipend that Naruto had been receiving to live in his apartment but since it was in Naruto's name, not Reiko's, and since he wasn't in complete control of Konoha's finances, he had to cut her off.

That's when he saw it. While she was talking to Kurenai, he saw her _eyes_. Those angry slit-like eyes. At first he couldn't believe it, he'd seen similar eyes from when Naruto was very young and very,_very,_ angry, but his were Red not a darkened color. He also grew claws and fangs and his whisker marks grew more pronounced. Reiko received none of those.

That brought up even more questions. Apparently she had a Doujutsu, one he didn't know of, or had even heard about or was it something else entirely? He didn't know. It was unlikely but not impossible that it was a Doujutsu, he didn't know everything after all. "Interesting. Very interesting…" The Hokage murmured as he stroked his beard. "I wonder…if her closeness with Naruto and his tainted Chakra…caused some of it to infect her. That would explain the eyes…" He trailed off for a moment, "Damn it!" He suddenly swore as he stared down at the Crystal Ball, trying to gleam more details from it. Reiko was an enigma that seemed hell bent on creating even more questions than she was answering them.

Sarutobi shook his head and decided not to do anything about this for now. He deemed her as not a threat to the Village and thus didn't require his immediate attention even though he _did_ want answers. He was patient like any good Shinobi and he would investigate and gather information on his subject before making a move of any sort.

"Let's see what other surprises you have, Reiko…" He said before clearing his Crystal Ball of Reiko's image and going back to his paperwork.

* * *

**The Next Day: 0800 Hours at Training Ground Thirteen**

"Good Morning everyone, I'm glad you're all here." Kurenai said after all her Genin had arrived, but didn't wait for them to reply. "I'll explain what we'll be doing today. As you all know, the Academy teaches you the most basic form of Chakra Control. A Hand Seal. It's the crudest means of controlling your Chakra, mostly used to just get Ninja Cadets use to using Chakra. I'll be teaching you a more advanced form known as Tree _Walking_ or Tree Climbing. Ah! Wait!" She said suddenly as Reiko opened her mouth, causing the redhead to snap it shut.

"I'll show you want I mean" Kurenai said as she walked over to one of the tree's spread out throughout the training ground, before walking _up_ it. No hands. Much to Reiko's shock, she knew Ninja could do many amazing things but she had never seen them walking _up_ things before as Ninja in the village either Shunshin or simply jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Reiko noticed Shino and Hinata didn't seem surprised at all, before she realized that they were from _clans_. "Kurenai-sensei, I already know the Tree Climbing Exercise. My Father taught me 5 months ago" Shino stated simply.

Kurenai blinked at Shino for a moment before nodding slowly, that wasn't included in Shino's file, but then again it was mostly his Academy Record. "Right" She said slowly, "Alright then, you'll be doing it too, but you'll be giving Hinata and Reiko help, alright?" Shino nodded sharply.

Hinata picked up the exercise almost immediately since her clans style emphasized high amounts of control though it took Reiko _much_ longer to get it down. After an hour of failing to walk completely up the tree, Reiko got very frustrated decided to create nearly 30 Kage Bunshin to aid her which caused Kurenai to sigh in exasperation but didn't say anything. After all a Ninja, especially a Kunoichi, needed to use _every_ trick known and then some to keep a leg up on their enemies.

"Good Job, Everyone! I'm really proud of you. Picking up Tree Climbing so quickly, even you Reiko for using your ingenuity to use Shadow Clones. I personally wouldn't have thought of it in your position." Kurenai said, happy and proud of her Team. Reiko simply sniffed softly and nodded politely in acknowledgement to Kurenai, having not yet forgiven her for her comment yesterday.

"Now, we'll take a break for lunch and continue with some physical exercises and…" Kurenai trailed off as she detailed the training regiment she had planned up for the rest of the week.

* * *

It wasn't until a few weeks later that they discovered that Team 7 had the _pleasure_ of having to capture Tora. Kiba had went nearly ballistic on the cat when it scratched his face to a bloody pulp and tried taking a Kunai to it until Kakashi had stopped him. Team 8, mostly Reiko, didn't waste a chance to rub in the fact it only took them an hour and a half to actually catch Tora, when they were actively looking for just the last pet, while it took Team 7 all the from midmorning to the evening to catch him.

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Wave Debacle (Arc)**

AN: I apologize for the delay in getting this up, but I've decided to wing it when it comes to personalities. This…is an AU, I guess…so trying to match up ALL the characters is foolish. I'll do what I can with what I know.

Anyhow…Have any of you guessed as to WHO I've based Reiko's looks after yet? Red Hair, Violet eyes…I've even dropped another hint in this chapter. No, I'm not telling you what that hint was…you _should_ know it.

I've PURPOSEFULLY left out details for their first Mission. Since D-Ranks are simply tasks designed for, what I believe, the purposes I mentioned in the chapter, that a Fresh Genin team would take on such an easy thing. That and they HAD spent YEARS training with basic skills at the Academy. Now they're getting a chance to test that for an official Mission and getting paid to do it.

Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions? Things I need to do better? If so, please tell me either through a PM or Submit a Review! I check my email for Review Alerts daily and I typically reply to any Reviews sent to me. Even if it's just me saying 'thanks' to you for submitting a review. I do listen after all! If it's an important enough question, I'll put the answer up in the next chapter for everyone else to see.

(If you spot any grammatical errors that make something illegible, copy and paste that sentence into a review and I'll get around to fixing it)

**Finalized: 1/5/2011 at 8:26AM**

**Revised: 8/13/2012**


	4. The Wave Debacle

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Naruto. The name "Reiko Inoue" I'll put claim forward to. Since I spent like two hours making that name (Wanted to find Meanings I liked). The name and name alone are all I claim. The character I've Modeled Reiko from does NOT belong to me and is, in fact, owned by Kishimoto

AN: IMPORTANT NOTE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER! Please read as it GRAVELY Concerns you, the readers. It may or may not cause you to stop reading this story. It pertains to Pairings and what may happen with them in the future.

This chapter is Team 7 centric. I'm focusing on them because interactions in Wave will influence characters later on.

This will be my first 'fight scene'…I'm not…sure I did it well, to be perfectly honest. I have faith I can improve it in the future when I do not have to use scenes added in from the manga with my own personal touch.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 4: The Wave Debacle (Arc)**

**Two Months Later**

Team 8 had been dismissed for the day after completing their latest mission a bit earlier then had been expected so Reiko, after parting ways with her teammates, decided to head down to Ichiraku's to blow a good portion of her paycheck on a couple of bowls of Ramen.

On the way to the Ramen stand, she spotted a rather grumpy looking Team 7. Well, the trio of Genin looked grumpy, their Sensei…well, his mask blocked any facial expressions along with the orange book that covered half his face. "Well…Looks like we're done for the day. See you tomorrow at 0900!" Kakashi said from behind his book before disappearing in a swirl of leaves, leaving three disgruntled Genin behind.

"Wow…You guys look pissed" Reiko said bluntly as she walked up to Team 7, mostly referring to Kiba since he was visibly gritting his teeth, though she suspected Sasuke was pissed as well, given his 'holier-than-thou' attitude he possessed.

"You'd be pissed too if you had that bastard as a Teacher! We've only done nine Missions in the last two months. NINE! And he hasn't even taught us _anything_! All he as us do is spar with each other _every fucking day_!" Kiba practically screamed and continued his rant. "And those 'Missions' are boring as hell! Painting fences…pulling weeds…I swear I'm gonna kill him if he makes us do another one!"

Sasuke grunted and nodded his head as he begrudgingly agreeing with Kiba. Sakura's shoulders were slumped as she added in an exasperated 'Yea'. "He hasn't even taught us anything! All he has us do is spar! Against each other! While he reads his stupid little book…how are we suppose to get stronger with a Sensei like him?" Kiba whined as he threw his arms up in the air out of frustration.

Reiko blinked as she listened over his rant, glancing at Sakura and Sasuke as they confirmed what Kiba was saying. "Wow…Kurenai-sensei doesn't really like your Sensei very much…I guess I know why now. And only nine mission? Damn. Kurenai-sensei has us do two a week, maybe three and after that we do some training afterwards…Real Training. Like chakra control techniques and, of course, sparring with each other and sometimes with Team 10 and with…ugh…" Reiko shuddered, "Team Gai. If you ever do some training with them…never, and I mean _never_, look into the Genjutsu."

"What the hell! Reiko-chan…can I trade places with you? Please?" Kiba said as sweetly as he could, his voice full of desperation, which caused Reiko to laugh. "Sorry Kiba, the teams are set up the way they are for a reason…Why don't you guys go and ask one of the other Teams to train with you? Be proactive or something…"

Sasuke blinked at the Redheads suggestion before letting out a very small huff of annoyance over the fact he hadn't thought to seek out someone else to help him get stronger. It wasn't like their Sensei told them they couldn't ask other's for extra training when not with him. "Who was the strongest of them?" Sasuke suddenly spoke up, which startled Sakura.

"Eh? The strongest? Well…that would be Gai-sensei. He's scary when it comes to Taijutsu, but I haven't seen any Ninjutsu from him." Reiko replied in earnest, while rubbing her chin in thought. "Kurenai-sensei and Team 10's Sensei both agree that Gai-sensei is the best person in the village to go to for Taijutsu training…That and his Genin are a year ahead of us, so they've got lots of experience they can share with you…of course, they have this annoyance Hyuuga that has a stick up his ass about Fate and excessively arrogant. It makes you-" She said in Sasuke's direction, "-seem _almost_ normal with your simple arrogance" Reiko finished with a shrug and a soft, strangled giggle as she tried to not laugh.

Kiba wasn't so restrained nor did he attempt to hide his laughs. Sakura opened her mouth to defend Sasuke from Reiko's comparison, but found that she couldn't since nothing Reiko said was untruthful…and she didn't want to piss off the girl who killed a Chunin on the first day of being a Genin. So she settled with walking behind Sasuke and slamming her fist in the back of Kiba's head, dislodging poor little Akamaru who was luckily saved by Sakura's good graces. "How such a cute dog like you ended up with _him _as a…partner. I feel sorry for you" Sakura murmured as she held the puppy in her arms before yelling at Kiba "That's what you get for laughing at Sasuke!"

Kiba groaned as he picked himself off the ground, "Hey! Reiko's laughing too! And she's the one who said it in the first place! How come you aren't hitting her too?" He yelled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Why? That's simple? It's cause she knows I wouldn't stand there and take it…and she can't run into a girls bathroom or the girls side of a hot spring to get away from me~" Reiko said with a proud grin as Kiba sweet dropped at her 'proud' statement.

"Anyhow…I'm hungry and getting some Ramen. You guys wanna come? It'll be on me" Reiko offered as she restarted her walk towards Ichiraku's. "You're paying? But aren't you poor?" Sakura questioned before slapping her hands over her mouth as she realized what she just said. "Foot in mouth?" Reiko said as she turned to look at Sakura. "I'm…poor, yes. But twenty one D-Rank missions have helped a lot! So I've got a little money to spend. Plus, we're from the same class and, while we aren't really friends with each other, it's been _two_ months since we've last seen one another" Reiko said softly as she addressed all of Team 7.

"TWENTY ONE! That's not fair!" Kiba roared after he retrieved Akamaru from Sakura, which caused the poor dog to wince. "Yes, Twenty one. Twenty one missions of 'painting fences and pulling weeds'. You're about to kill your Sensei after just Nine, I'd be afraid of what you'd do to Konoha if you had to do as many as I have" Kiba visibly deflated when Reiko put it that way. "So you guys coming or not?"

"I'm not passing up a chance for food, since you're paying!" "Kiba, don't take advantage of Reiko's generosity! A-and…I'll go too, since I don't have anything else to do to night" Sakura said before she turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun, are you coming too?" She said, hopefully.

"…Fine" Came his reply, causing Sakura to squeal in joy and to the pain of every ones ears. Sasuke hoped that by doing this, he might get some respite in the future from Sakura's fan girly-ness. He was sadly wrong.

The quartet of Genin eventually made it to Ichiraku's, though it was hardly a quiet trip. Kiba had decided to whine about the Missions his team had been doing, mostly talking about the mission that took them all day to do. The way Kiba explained it; Team 7 may as well have fought the Third Great Shinobi World War by themselves…and won. Once Reiko managed to decipher the mass exaggerations of his story, she came to realize he was talking about Tora, the hellcat that had descended upon Konoha from the Daimyo's castle, which caused her to break out laughing and pointing out the fact that her team had successfully caught the hellcat in just under two hours. When prompted, by Kiba, on how they did that, she refused to answer.

Kiba sulked at the far side of the Ramen bar and ate his bowl of Ramen in silence. This earned Reiko a tight hug from Sakura, who seemed relieved by the silence. The blush on Reiko's face didn't want to be hidden and made itself glaringly noticeable before she managed to hide it by burying into her ordered bowl of Salt Ramen.

"**It looks like I know which team my little Reiko-chan is swinging for~"** Reiko heard this and a pronounced amount of giggling inside of her head. 'Onee-sama! Shut…up!' She screamed and all but inhaled the Ramen at this point. She felt an odd…urge to add something to the end of her sentence and wondered, fearfully, if Naruto's accursed 'dattebayo' hadn't been entirely killed off with her change into Reiko.

Reiko couldn't help but admit, to herself, that Sakura was cute, if only in looks. She couldn't see why Naruto had taken such a shine to Sakura, since her personality was abysmally violent despite her cute looks. After all, looks weren't everything. If Mizuki hadn't killed Naruto, Reiko was sure Sakura would have eventually killed him one day by hitting him too hard.

Two 'Thank you's, one apologize, and a grunt later, Team 7 headed off back to their respective homes. "Interesting…um…friends you've got there Reiko" Ayame said softly as she watched the three Genin leave. "They aren't my friends, so to speak…just classmates and coworkers that I haven't seen in two months. I was hoping to catch up with them and see how their trainings been going, but…they pretty much summed it up before we even got here"

"I see…" Ayame murmured as she took Reiko's empty bowl. "So…what was that blush I saw when that pink haired girl hugged you, hm?" Ayame said with a teasing tone while her back was turned to Reiko. 'What the hell? She's teasing me about that too? Ugh…why me…' Reiko groaned to herself as she pinched the bridge of her nose. 'Oh, what the heck, lying and attempting to cover up the fact with only get me teased further, might as well tell her the truth..' She thought with a sigh.

"Okay…She's a cute girl and she just hugged me, I have a right to blush alright?" Reiko said with an expiration filled voice. The truthful admittance caused Ayame to pause for a moment and glace back at Reiko, slightly in shock, before she turned her head back around to hide a grin that started to creep along her face. Ayame's father saw the grin and simply raised an eyebrow at his daughter who mouthed 'Payback' to him. "Ah" Teuchi replied and nodded in understanding.

Reiko missed the little exchange between Father and Daughter. "I'll take care of this, you go see if our customer wants anything else, alright Ayame?" With a deep breath, Ayame forced herself to lose the grin, as to not tip of Reiko before letting her father take over with the dishes. "Of course, dad!"

"Is there anything else I can get for you today, Reiko-chan?" Ayame said as she walked up to the counter and leaned forward on it, her arms resting flatly on the counter. "Hm? Um…No, I'm good. Gotta save up for my next visit" Reiko murmured as she looked down to fish out Naruto's old Gama-chan wallet. Seeing Reiko distracted, Ayame went in for the kill. She leaned further forward so that the counter tugged on her uniform, pulling it tighter against her frame to emphasis her chest and reached out with one hand before placing a finger gently under Reiko's chin slowly making Reiko's head tilt back up to look at her.

Reiko blinked as she saw Ayame's hand coming into view as Ramen Waitress reached for her. After coming to Ichiraku's for so long, she knew they wouldn't hurt her, so she thought there was something on her chest and she made an effort to example her chest for something that might draw Ayame's attention. That is, until the brown haired girl made her lift her head back up. Reiko's eyes went fantastically wide as Ayame's face was barely an inch away from her own and that Ayame's lips were dangerously close to hers.

The closeness caused Reiko's breathing to hitch and the blush caused by Sakura's hug returned with a vengeance, however, this time it was so much stronger and made Reiko's face emulate a tomato. Ayame leaned in closer and closer, so close that Reiko thought the other girl was going to kiss her. And then Reiko fainted just as Ayame began to pull away. Both Father and Daughter stared at one of their favorite customers in amused shock as Reiko fell forward with a dull thump.

"I…think you want a little too far there, Ayame." Teuchi said with concern as he stared at Reiko before turning to look at his daughter, who was now sporting a Cheshire grin. "I don't! It's…a little payback for when Reiko and…Naruto used that 'Sexy Jutsu' of theirs in the shop! Plus, it was fun" Ayame never lost her grin, though it did weaken at the mention of Naruto, as she spoke. "Though, I think I might have broken her." "You think?" Came her father's reply. "Close up shop, would you? I'll go take little Reiko Home..." "Alright, Dad"

**

* * *

**

**Inside Reiko's Mind**

"**Haha~! That was perfect! Absolutely perfect!" **Hisa laughed loudly, clutching her sides. **"That just proves my hopes~. Lovely little Reiko has a thing for other girls!"** She teased at a still red faced Reiko.

"Oh, shut it Onee-sama!" Reiko tartly replied to her fellow Redhead as she crossed her arms across her chest in indignation. "And I do not like other girls!" She added with a snap.

"**Oh, Pardon me then. You like Women and Young Women then"** Hisa grinned before sauntering over to the younger girl. Reiko wearily watched her Onee-sama coming closer and closer to her, knowing full well that Hisa was planning on doing something that would cause her some form of embarrassment. Reiko gulped as she stared at the epitome of voluptuousness that was her Onee-sama, stopped in front of her. Oh how she wished she could faint within her own mind.

"**Now…I wonder if I should…teach you some of the things that are all but required to know in order to become a Woman"** Hisa mused as she stared down at the increasingly nervous girl in front of her. **"To continue where that Ayame girl left off? Should I?"** She purred as she leaned over and bent her knees slightly to be face to face with Reiko. Mercifully Reiko got her wish and fainted.

"**Apparently not…Spoil sport" **Hisa said with an annoyed sigh before shaking her head and retreating back to the little Sanctuary in Reiko's mind that had been made for her. **"Another year or so it would seem. How dreadfully boring"**

**

* * *

**

**The Next Morning**

"Reiko…Reiko…" Reiko groaned after hearing her name being called out. It was only then she realized that she was gently getting shook by her shoulders. "Eh…?" Came her intelligent reply as she slowly opened her eyes, blinking as the sudden increase in light stung her eyes. "S-sensei?" She murmured after a moment as her brain recognized Kurenai's voice.

"Wha…What are you doing in my apartment?" She asked after slowly sitting up, blinking a few more times until the blurry image of her Sensei came into focus. "I came to get you. You're three hours late to today's training…Are you…okay?" Kurenai said, concerned for her student. "Uhn…Yeah, just passed out after…Ayame-chan…teased me…" Reiko said slowly as she recalled the night before, causing her to blush darkly.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow at the blushing Reiko and wondered just what sort of _teasing_ this Ayame girl had used against Reiko. "I find it hard to believe that simple teasing would knock you out." "Erm…It wasn't…simple a-and my…_imagination_ got carried away and it kinda…made me pass out. You don't want to know, trust me please?" "I think I should know as to what caused you to over sleep so I can make sure it doesn't happen again or at least set something up so you can arrive on time" Kurenai said sternly, her arms crossed under her chest.

"Y-you…really want to know?"

"Yes" Was the simple reply.

"Fine…Ayame-chan…the waitress at the Ramen Bar I go to a lot…decided to go in to…" Reiko's blush grew increasingly dark as she spoke. "To…pretend to lean in to kiss me…That's what happened and my imagination…got carried away…" She murmured, extremely embarrassed at having to admit it. Of course, she could've decided not to say anything, but keeping secrets from your Sensei wasn't a good idea…especially when those secrets might affect your performance.

One of Kurenai's eyebrows started to twitch ever so slightly at Reiko's story. "Lovely. Just…make sure your alarm is set before you let someone _tease_ you like that again. Now come on, your teammates are waiting for you." "Y-yes, Sensei…" Reiko said before groaning as she realized she was still wearing yesterday's clothes.

**

* * *

**

**Hokage's Office. Team 7.**

"Right, Team 7, well done with yesterday's mission. Your next Mission's are Babysitting and Elder's Grandson, Picking up supplies in a neighboring village for a local restaurant, and help the local farms dig up pota-" "Hell No!" Kiba interrupted with a scream. "We're ninja's, damn it! Not…not peasants! We should be out doing incredible missions…like hunting bandits or Ninja!"

Sasuke nodded in agreement, but kept his mouth closed and even Sakura seemed to agree with Kiba. Kakashi sighed and shook his head slightly, 'Was bound to happen sooner or later...' he thought lazily.

"I see" The Hokage simply stated as he leaned forward to look at the Genin. "Well Kakashi, do you believe your Genin are fit to take on a C-Rank Mission?" He said as he looked slowly from the Genin to Kakashi. "I do, Hokage-sama. The skills of my team already show they are worthy of a C-Rank mission."

"Alright, I'll give you a C-Rank." Sarutobi said as he looked around the numerous scrolls sprawled across his desk and ignored Kiba's excited jump and his excited exclamation. "Here it is…It's a protection mission for a Bridge builder who has been targeted by Highwaymen. He requests escort home and protection until the time that his bridge is completed. It's estimated that it will take three weeks. Now, I'll introduce you to your client" The Hokage said, before waving into the air.

Moments later the door opened up and in shuffled a blocky looking man with a large bottle of alcohol in his hand. "What the hell is this? It's a bunch of super brats…" He proceeded to wipe his mouth along his arm before sharply jerking it down to get as much liquid off it as possible.

"Especially that super smelly one with the rat on his head…You brats actually Ninja?" He stumbled slightly and leaned against the door frame for support.

"You…" Kiba growled dangerously, "I'll kill you!" He yelled as he pulled out a kunai and prepared to lunge at the man before Kakashi grabbed him by his collar, causing him to let out a loud yelp. "Then you would fail your first C-rank mission…and it would be D-ranks all over again, Kiba…so killing the person we're suppose to protect is a stupid idea" Kakashi said with a sigh as he held a flailing Kiba back.

"Anyways…" The man let out a belch before continuing, "I'm Tazuna, the super expert bridge builder and I expect you to provide me with protection until I get back to my country and finish up the bridge"

"Right, Team 7, assemble at the Main gate in two hours with enough gear for three weeks. Dismissed" Kakashi said before simply disappearing in a swirl of leaves, which caused the Hokage to growl in annoyance as those leaves scattered about his office. The Genin left in a more conventional and slow manner.

**Two Hours Later. Main Gate.**

"Come on! Let's go! I wanna kick some ass!" Kiba yelled excitedly, punching a hand into an opened palm, as he grinned. Tazuna looked a little put off by how vocal Kiba was, after all weren't ninja's suppose to be all silent and stuff?

"Hey…Am I really going to be safe with this…kid?" Tazuna accused firmly as he pointed at the young Inuzuka, causing Kakashi to sweat drop. "Heh…Don't Tazuna-san, I'm a Jonin, and so you don't have to worry." Kiba gritted his teeth and clenched his hands in rage but managed, this time, to not try attacking the client.

"Look, Old man, I'm the Heir to the Inuzuka clan! So don't mess with me!" Kiba screamed at Tazuna as he shook a fist at him. "I worry for your clan then" Was Tazuna's reply. "Why you-!" "Kiba, enough. The mission starts now, so act like the Ninja you're supposed to be" Kakashi commanded, as he started to walk out the gate. Kiba sullenly followed as the rest of Team 7 set out in relative silence.

Unbeknownst to the Genin, two Ninja had begun to stalk the little group the moment they exited Fire Country, using the trees for cover. 'Interesting…Now why would two Ninja be following us, hm?' Kakashi thought lazily, not overly concerned as he placed the two unknowns at High-Genin, maybe Low-Chunin level. It wasn't long till the two unknowns sped off down the road, a fairly long ways away. Kakashi, with his eyes ever half laden, sighed out of annoyance. Whoever those Ninja were, they were pathetic.

After hours of silence and getting used to the constant noise Kiba spouted, Sakura couldn't stand it anymore and decided to ask some questions. "Um…Tazuna-san?" "Eh? What do you want, Pinky?" The drunk replied making Sakura blink at the nickname. "You're from Wave Country, right? Don't you have Ninja's of your own?"

Tazuna opened his mouth to answer but a slight wave from Kakashi cut him off. "No, Sakura, Not in Wave Country. They're too small and too poor, No offense Tazuna-san-" Tazuna grunted softly and nodded, "- to afford a Ninja Village. So that forces them to come to other Villages for any Ninja Aid."

"T-Thank you, Sensei" Sakura murmured before speaking up again, "Will…we encounter any other Ninja on this mission?" Her voice contained a hint of fear. "Other Ninja? Hm…Don't worry about it, there won't be any Ninja combat in a C-Rank Mission" Kakashi said this to ease Sakura's fears, but after sensing those two Ninja earlier, he knew he was lying to his team. That was when he spotted a puddle in the middle of the road as they walked on. 'No, I stand corrected these Ninja aren't Amateurs…that word is too good for them. They're idiots.' Kakashi thought as he glanced at the puddle.

Tazuna lowered his head in shame at Kakashi's words, an action which Sasuke caught and put him on edge slightly. He was sure the Bridge builder was hiding something now, but he didn't say anything as anticipation welled up inside of him. The opportunity to fight enemy ninja and prove his strength was too much to pass up and he wouldn't endanger that opportunity by speaking up.

Kakashi noted that his Genin didn't appear to pick up on the fact that there was a puddle, a single puddle, in the middle of the road even though it hadn't rained in the area in just under a week. He was slightly ashamed that not even Sasuke picked up on the fact.

As Team 7 and their charge passed the puddle, two people, back to back, rose silently up from it. Suddenly, one of the figures threw his arm forward, launching his partner into the air at Kakashi. Using the razor tipped chains connecting them from their clawed gauntlets; they proceeded to wrap Kakashi, from head to toe, in the deadly chains.

Acting the part, Kakashi yelled a 'startled' "What!" as he 'suddenly' found himself wrapped up in chains, with two Mist Chunin on either side of him. His Genin whirled around in startled shock as they stared that their trapped Sensei.

Before anyone could react, the Chunin yanked on their chains, causing the chains to constrict around Kakashi, cutting deep into his flesh, before tearing him apart if a gory explosions of limbs and blood. "One Down" They heard the duo say ominously. Sakura screamed in terror, Kiba gasped loudly, and Sasuke had to bite down on his lip, hard enough to draw blood to keep his surprised exclamation from flying from his mouth.

The opposing Nin wasted no time before picking their next target, the weakest looking of the Genin. "Two Down" They said as they appeared on either side of Sakura, their razor sharp chain already being pulled in an effort to decapitate the girl.

Sasuke was the first to react by leaping swiftly into the air as the chain drew closer and closer with each passing second to end the pink haired girls' life. In mid air, Sasuke's right hand dipped into his Kunai and Shuriken holster and pulled out one of each, before launching the Shuriken with expert precision and nailing the razor coated chain just inches short of it ended his teammate's life.

The momentum of the Shuriken yanked the chain away from Sakura and imbedding itself into a tree on the side of the roadway. Sasuke carried on with his plan, using the Kunai he pulled from the holster and threw it with such speed that the little weapon hissed through the air before burying itself in the little tiny hole in the middle of the shuriken, ensuring that the chain wouldn't be coming lose very easily.

The sudden lurch of their chain back towards the tree caused the two Chunin's arms to get swung back to face the very tree their chain was now stuck to. A perfect landing spot as Sasuke used the Chunin's gauntleted arms as a landing pad, much to the shock of the two opposing Ninja. Quickly, Sasuke pivoted himself so that his hands took the place of his feet on the gauntlets before following it up with a vicious kick with both legs to the jaws of Team 7's attackers and sending them flying.

Out of desperation, the two Chunin disconnected the chain from their gauntlets and quickly got their footing back in order to ignore the two Genin and head straight for the bridge builder with a hasty dash. One of them, however, was a faint as he swung back around to try swiping his claw at Sakura. Sasuke had just landed on the ground after kicking the two Chunin and had yet to get his footing back.

Kiba recovered after seeing Kakashi getting torn apart in time to see the other enemy Chunin rushing towards him and the bridge builder. 'Damn it!' He cursed to himself as he realized there wasn't enough time to use the Jujin Bunshin with Akamaru. Time seemed to slow down for him as he made a last second decision; no way was he going to let Sasuke show him up. Kiba threw Akamaru aside to get him out of harm's way before dropping down to all fours. "Gatsuga!" He screamed loudly as he suddenly shot forward at the rushing Chunin, drilling through the air as he spun ferociously in a last ditch effort to protect Tazuna.

It was then that Kakashi reappeared and close lined the Chunin getting ready to strike down Sakura and knocking that one out. He watched for a moment as the last enemy barely dodged Kiba's Gatsuga, though he didn't get away unscathed. The Chunin avoided a lethal hit but had his left, un-gauntleted arm torn off in the process, undeterred by the injury, he continued to charge, hoping to at least kill the Bridge builder.

His attempt was in vain as Kakashi shot over in front of Tazuna and grabbed the Chunin's face in his hand before hooking his leg around one of the Chunin's to trip him. Using the Chunin's momentum, Kakashi pushed forward with his hand causing the Chunin to flip backwards just has Kakashi used said hand to drive the enemy Ninja's skull into the ground with a sickening and fleshy thud.

Sakura fell to the ground, sheet white in fear as she realized just how close to death she had just come. 'K-Kakashi-sensei…is a-alive?' She thought in shock before slowly looking over to the spot where she had seen 'him' ripped to pieces and saw only fragments of wood. 'H-he used Kawarimi?' Was her next shock numbed thought.

'Damn, show off' Sasuke thought as he narrowed his eyes as his alive and well sensei, his lips curling slightly in envy at how quick and efficiently Kakashi had dispatched the two enemy Ninja. He was actually mildly impressed with the Dobe's performance but then again, Kiba was a clan Heir so he should have at least _some_ skill despite being dead last in the Academy.

"Sakura, I'm sorry I didn't save you right away…but I didn't think you would freeze up like that" Kakashi said softly as she looked to Sakura before looking over to Sasuke and then to Kiba, as he walked back up to the group after unleashing his Gatsuga. "Sasuke, Kiba…Great work on protecting your teammates and the client."

Sasuke nodded and grunted softly in acknowledgement as Sakura nodded numbly. Kiba let out a loud whoop at the praise before Akamaru trotted back up to his partner.

Kakashi turned briefly to Tazuna and spoke, "I need to talk with you, Tazuna-san" He said gravely as he turned his attention to the Chunin he knocked out. He didn't even bother with the one whose head he had slammed into the ground since the growing red pool of blood around the ninja's was a great confirmation of a kill. He carefully removed the Kunai and Shuriken holding the razor chain to the tree and used it to tightly tie the living Ninja to the same tree the chain had formerly been stuck to.

"Hidden Mist Chunin...These guys are known to continue fighting no matter how injured they become. Not nice foes to face on a Genin's first C-Rank Mission." Kakashi murmured as he looked over the unconscious form of the Mist Nin.

A few moments later Team 7's captive woke with a groan and quickly learned to _not_ struggle or move against his bindings. He looked up slowly at Kakashi and slowly asked, "How…How did you read our movements?" "I first spotted you in the trees along the side of the road before you two took off down the road…and on a sunny day like today, it hasn't rained in days, so there isn't going to be a puddle in the middle of the road!" Kakashi answered jovially which pissed off the Chunin. "You Bastard!" He screamed and mistakenly jerked against his bindings causing the chains to rip his clothes and skin making him cry out in agony.

"If you knew that? How come you let the kids fight?" Tazuna asked with a blink, drawing Kakashi's attention to him. "I could've killed those two instantly but…I needed to find out _who_ they were after" Kakashi responded to Tazuna levelly, looking at him out the corner of his eye.

"We hadn't been told that there were Shinobi after you…Our mission was to protect you from simple thieves or gangs. Not Assassins. This was supposed to be a simple protection mission until you completed your bridge but now…this Mission has become a B-Rank Mission _at the least_" Kakashi said softly, his single eye was as hard as steel as he looked at a suddenly passive and sullen Tazuna, who lowered his head in shame.

"I'm sure you had your reasons to lie about the mission details but that causes problems for those assigned to protect you. As of now, Team 7 is operating outside of our Duties and might be too much for my Genin." Kakashi murmured as he placed his hands in his pockets. After coming so close to death, Sakura shakily spoke up, "W-we aren't ready for this! We…should go back to Konoha! L-Lets quit!"

**A short time later. Unknown location.**

"You failed? I paid good money because I heard that you and your _gang_ of Ninja's were very strong! What a joke." Snarled a very short and fat man. Doing that was a mistake as the Ninja he was speaking chuckled cruelly before placing a hand on the handle of the massive sword strapped to his back. Before the little man could even react, the Ninja had the tip of his massive sword barely an inch from his nose.

"Stop your bitching!" The Ninja barked the command, "I'll go with my Kubikiri Hocho and kill them all myself" Though the little man couldn't see it, the Ninja was smirking underneath the bandages covering his lower half of his face. "A-Are you sure? That damned Bridge Builder seems to have some skilled Ninja's with him if they defeated the Demon Brothers. They'll be more prepared now that you don't have the element of surprise!" The man said as firmly as he could with a blade that was three times his length pointing at him.

"Who the fuck do you think I am? There's a reason why I'm called the 'Demon of the Hidden Mist, Momochi Zabuza'" Zabuza spoke each word ominously as he pushed himself off his couch and sheathed his Kubikiri Hocho. "Come on you lot, let's get going." Zabuza said as he waved to three Ninja kneeling off to the side in mottled fatigues. They weren't as strong or as skilled as the Demon Brothers, but they would at least provide a distraction.

**Back with Team 7.**

"Ugh…Sensei, I…Have to talk to you" Tazuna spoke with conviction as he slowly raised his head up. "It's about this mission…You're absolutely right to say that this mission is outside of your duties. As it turns out…there's a very dangerous man after my life" He said as he closed the distance between Kakashi and him. "Oh?" Came Kakashi's short reply, prompting Tazuna to continue. "You've probably heard his name before…The shipping magnate, Gatou of the Gatou Company..." Tazuna said softly. That actually surprised Kakashi, causing him to stand up a bit straighter.

"Yes. Officially he runs a large shipping company, but he sells drugs and other illegal weapons in secret. He uses Ninja's and Gang members to take over businesses and small, poor counties. He's a very cruel and nasty man." "T-that's horrible!" Sakura yelled in horror. "Yes it is, isn't it?" Tazuna said with a slight nod in Sakura's direction.

"Almost two years ago…he came to Wave and using violence and his money, he quickly gained a monopoly on all business traffic in the country. My bridge is going to break that Monopoly and he fears that…so he wants me dead because I'm getting in his way." The Bridge builder continued to explain his situation to Team 7's Sensei.

"If you knew that Ninja's could be after you…Why did you hide that fact when you hired us? For a B-Rank Mission, you would've gotten a Jonin and a Squad of Chunin, instead of Genin." Kakashi said as he rubbed his chin, he couldn't for the life of him figure out why Tazuna might lie to Konoha, since it didn't seem like he had a bone to pick with them.

"The Wave Country is super poor because of Gatou. Even our Feudal Lord has no money. Hell, the money I brought with me to pay for the Mission…was all we, the Residents of Wave, could scrape up!" Tazuna's shoulders slumped and bowed his head low enough to hide his eyes from the Genin. "W-well if you quit the mission now, I will most definitely end up dead, but…If I die my cute grandson will just cry for a few days! And my Daughter will live a life hating Konoha forever and the rest of Wave will never turn to Konoha for help again!" Tazuna raised an arm up to shield his eyes as he dramatically sobbed against his arm.

Team 7 sweat dropped at Tazuna's antics. Tazuna was probably right about Wave Country turning its back on Konoha if his team turned their backs on the Bridge Builder and it would reflect very badly on Kakashi to lose Konoha a potential customer in the future. "Alright, we'll protect you until you get back to your Country" Kakashi said with a sigh. "However, I am going to call for reinforcements. I don't believe that a single team will be able to handle this mission." Having said that, Kakashi slammed his palm into the ground and half yelled, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" In a small puff of smoke, a little brown furred pug wearing a Konoha Hitai'ate appeared.

"Pakkun, I need to return to Konoha at your best speed and tell the Hokage to send reinforcements to Wave Country. This mission has become a B-Rank mission and will probably rise to that of an A-Rank." Kakashi said to the tiny pug. "Understood, Kakashi" Pakkun replied seriously, before dashing off in a little brown blur.

Sasuke simply smirked, had Kakashi tried backing out, he would've tried everything in his power, short of kicking and screaming, to try getting them to continue this mission. His Uchiha pride kept him from the thought of running away. Sakura grimaced, torn between running back to Konoha and helping out such a poor people, though her pity eventually won out over her personal safety, since she was a Kunoichi of Konoha after all! Kiba let out a big toothy grin and looked pumped to continue the mission.

Not long later, Team 7 and Tazuna boarded a small gondola that took them across the channel to Wave Country. They passed right alongside the Bridge Tazuna was building. It was an extremely large bridge and very, very impressive. "Whoa…That's one huge bridge" Kiba muttered in amazement and Sakura nodded in agreement. After nearly an hour, they could easily make out the town through the fog that seemed to blanket the region.

"It looks like we've avoided being detected by Gatou's thugs, Tazuna. But just to be safe, we'll take a route with heavy vegetation. It'll be harder to spot us that way." The Boat driver said quietly before pulling up to a little makeshift looking dock. "This is it for me, Good Bye and Good Luck!" The Driver said as his passengers got off his boat before leaving down the channel.

"Right! Get me home safely!" Tazuna exclaimed as they walked off the creaking dock. "Yes, Yes…" Kakashi said with exasperation as he led the way. 'Next time…It won't be Chunin attacking us, but Jonin. I only hope my Genin will survive this…' Kakashi thought with a sigh.

During the walk to Tazuna's home, Akamaru suddenly perked up while on top of Kiba's head and looked towards a patch of nearby bushes. He looked his eyes on those bushes before he started to growl and suddenly lunged off of Kiba's head, barking as loudly as he could just as he dove into the bushes.

Kakashi and his Genin immediately went into defensive stances, their hands on their weapon pouches. Moments later, Akamaru came out of the bushes with a very bloody and very dead snow rabbit. Enraged by this, Sakura slammed her fist into the back of Kiba's head before yelling at him, "Kiba, you jerk! Why are you teaching Akamaru to hunt down cute little rabbits!"

"Oh! God Damn it, Sakura!" Kiba screamed as he clutched his head. "Akamaru is a Ninken! He's trained to hunt down Shinobi and Animals that can be used for food! You sensed a Ninja didn't you, Akamaru?" Kiba explained to Sakura before turning to Akamaru, who had dropped the bloodied white furred rabbit, before barking and nodding his head in acknowledgement. "See, Sakura? He was doing what he was trained to do and decided to bring back a rabbit since the Ninja ran away! Great job, boy!"

Kakashi looked down at Akamaru's kill and frowned beneath his mask. The rabbit's fur was the wrong color; it should've been brown this time of year. 'This rabbit must've been kept in a cage for the purpose of using it for Kawarimi. Damn, so they're here already.' Kakashi immediately went on alert, without changing his body language, as he scanned the area with his eye.

"Everybody, DOWN!" Kakashi suddenly screamed as he yanked Tazuna to the ground. Sasuke and Kiba reacted instantly after Kakashi's frantic order, and both hit the ground. Sakura was once again frozen in place. "Shit!" Kiba yelled as he heard the loud whooshing noise rapidly getting closer and closer and knew it wasn't something friendly. He noticed Sakura's lack of action and cursed again before lunging from his position on the ground to grab both of Sakura's legs and pulled them out from under her.

The thing causing the loud whooshing noises barely missed Sakura's head, though the blade managed to cut off most of Sakura's hair, since the sudden downward force of her fall kept her hair suspended for a split second. She could feel the loss of her hair, but laid on the ground, eyes watering in shame as she froze up _again_ and was nearly killed _again_.

The massive blade that had nearly killed Sakura came to a stop in a tree across the way, cutting deeply into it. Suddenly a shirtless man with bandages across the lower half of his face dropped down onto the massive weapon, his back turned to Team 7 as he looked over his shoulder at them.

Slowly, Kakashi stood back up and looked at the man, "Well, well, well, if it isn't Momochi Zabuza, a Missing-Nin from Kirigakure…Everyone, take Tazuna and get back. This one's on a whole other level…and be vigilant, he might not have come alone!" Kakashi said as he waved his team back. "This'll be a little tough…unless I do this…" Kakashi murmured as he reached up to pull his Hitai'ate up from covering his left eye.

"So you're Sharingan Kakashi. Heh, sorry but that old man is MINE!" Zabuza bloodthirstily said as he turned on his blade. Sasuke was shocked stiffed at Zabuza's words as he slowly and stiffly turned to look at his Sensei. It seemed to take forever for Kakashi to uncover his eye and when he finally did, Sasuke's breath hitched as he saw a fully matured three tomoe Sharingan. 'I-impossible!' Sasuke thought, 'Only Uchiha have the Sharingan! D-does that mean…he's an Uchiha..?' His shocked thoughts continued.

"But, first, Zabuza…You will fight me" Kakashi declared, staring at the Missing-Nin with eyes seemingly as sharp as diamonds. "Heh, so I get to see the infamous Sharingan already. I'm honored. But enough talking, I have an old man to kill" He said that as he leapt off from the tree, pulling his Kubikiri Hocho free of it and landed on the nearby body of water before anyone could blink.

Zabuza's left hand was raised high above his head and the other in front of his face, both forming hand seal's. "Ninpou: Kirigakure no Jutsu" Zabuza muttered as an explosion of mist surrounded him and the body of water he was standing on.

"Momochi Zabuza was an expert in the art of Silent Killing during his time as a member of Kirigakure. You won't even notice until you're already dead, so be extremely careful guys. But don't worry…He'll come after me first" Kakashi said sternly as he spread his legs slightly apart, getting into a firmer stance and narrowed his eyes as the Mist continued to expand, growing thicker and thicker with each passing second.

"There are eight choices to choose from…Liver, Lungs, Spine, Clavicle vein, Neck vein, Brain, Kidneys, and heart…So many to choose from! But which shall I go after?" Zabuza's voice carried ominously throughout the mist, seeming to echo throughout it and causing the Genin to tense up.

Suddenly Kakashi sensed something and his hands snapped up forming a quick hand seal just as a massive wave of Ki washed over everyone. Tazuna, being a civilian, was completely unprepared for the sudden wave of Ki and collapsed to his knees and, due to the intensity of the fear building up rapidly inside of him, lost control of his bladder.

The Genin fairly only slightly better, only hunching over and freezing up with fear as their bodies shook slightly. Each of the Genin were sheet white and wide eyed as each one had similar visions of their own demise if they even attempted to move an inch. Suddenly Kakashi's calm voice broke the trance the Ki had sent them into. "Don't worry. I'll protect you guys even if I die doing so. After all, I don't let my comrades die." Kakashi said with his patented eye smile. It worked on calming the Genin down a little bit.

"We'll see about that" Zabuza's voice came from within the middle of the Genin, his arm already on the hilt of his Kubikiri Hocho, while his only hand formed a hand seal. "It's over" He said as he raised his hand seal.

Kakashi's eyes widened as she silently cursed before reacting like the Ex-ANBU he was and vanishing in a swirl of leaves only to appear in front of Zabuza, kunai in his hand as he rammed it into the Missing-Nin's chest. "Shit! Behind you!" Kiba shouted as another Zabuza appeared, sword already in the process of swinging. Sakura watched in horror as her Sensei was cut in half and perfectly mimicked a banshee with her scream before his body suddenly burst into water.

Zabuza blinked, his brain not understanding what exactly just happened, until he realized that Kakashi had used a Mizu Bunshin. 'Impossible! He copied it through this mist?' Zabuza thought in a slight panic. He didn't have time to react as he suddenly felt the cold steel of a Kunai pressed against his jugular, "Don't move" Kakashi said smoothly into Zabuza's ear, "It's over." Kakashi began to press the Kunai harder against Zabuza's throat, but paused as his intended victim started to laugh.

"Haha! It's over? You don't get it…There's no way you can defeat me with cheap copies. But that was—" "Enough talking" Kakashi said as he slit Zabuza's throat, only to have him explode into water. "That was rude! I wasn't finished talking!" Roared Zabuza, suddenly behind Kakashi again and already in mid swing. Kakashi dropped to his hand and knees and felt the wind trail the massive blade left as it flew over him. Not even a second later, he heard the Sword cutting into the ground and started to recover but Zabuza had used the swords momentum to carry up a follow up attack. He used his sword to spin himself around and used the extra speed to land a backward spin kick to Kakashi's chest and sending the Konoha Jonin flying across the clearing.

'Now!' Zabuza thought as he prepared to rush forward to finish Kakashi off, only to cry out in pain as he felt dozens of spikes piercing into his feet. 'Fuck! He laid down Makibishi as he dodged!' Zabuza realized before simply vanishing in a swirl of smoke before muttering, "Foolish."

Kakashi, however, had been through into the water and as he was pulling himself up onto the surface of the water, Zabuza appeared behind him, in the middle of a Jutsu. The only indication that Kakashi had fallen into a trap was that the water started to feel heavier and heavier around him. 'Suiro no Jutsu!' Exclaimed the name of the Jutsu in his head as he spoke aloud to Kakashi, "Heh, what a fool."

With that said, Kakashi was suddenly engulfed in an unstable sphere of water, which stabilized the moment Zabuza thrust his hand into it. "It makes things difficult if you can't move, heh. Now Kakashi, we can finish things up later after I 'take care' of them" He said as he formed a one handed tiger seal and moments later, water rose up from the lake and quickly formed into an exact copy of Zabuza.

Kakashi cursed himself for underestimating his opponent and getting himself trapped. Due to his overconfidence, his Genin and their client were going to die.

Zabuza's water clone shot forward in a blur of speed and appeared in front of Sakura and delivered a spin kick to the side of the girls head, sending her unconscious form flying. It tumbled to a halt about six meters away, her Hitai'ate unraveling and flying from her head. "S-Sakura!" Kiba yelled in surprise as he watched her sail through the air.

"Take Tazuna and Run! You have no chance at beating him! As long as he's keeping me trapped in this prison, _he_ can't move!" Kakashi yelled desperately, hoping his Genin could get away and live while they waited for reinforcements. "His water clones can't travel far from his body! So take Tazuna and Sakura and just run away!"

"Oi, Sasuke…He said that Zabuza can't move while he's that Jutsu, right?" Kiba said so quietly only Sasuke could hear him, this caused Sasuke to blink before nodding. "Then he's a sitting target." Kiba said with a smirk as he looked to Sasuke, who slowly began to smirk as well. Akamaru suddenly was replaced by a replica of Kiba and both dropped into similar stances as they flanked Tazuna.

"You know that technique you've been working on lately after Training?" Sasuke's grin broadened as he realized which technique Kiba was referring to. "Heh, Yeah, I do. Looks like you aren't much of a Dobe after all, Kiba" "Heh…well, thanks"

Kakashi winced as he watched his two remaining combat effective Genin drop into ready stances and Akamaru transforming. 'This isn't good!' He thought in despair. "What are you doing? Run away! This fight was over the Moment I was caught! Our Duty is to protect Tazuna-san or did you forget that?" Kakashi screamed as loudly as he could and he watched as both Kiba and Sasuke flinched, indicating they _had_ forgotten.

"Damn it!" Kiba yelled in anger, his fists clenching so tightly that his nails drew blood.

"Can you win?" Tazuna asked softly, surprising both the Genin. "Win? Against him? No. But we can free Kakashi-sensei" Sasuke said, hating himself for saying that, but now wasn't the time to be arrogant, not against a monster like Zabuza. "I see. I'm sorry I dragged you all into this with my lies…So do what you want!" Tazuna said with a firm and confident smile.

"Heh, you hear that, Bastard?"

"Yeah, you ready, Dobe?"

"I'll distract his clone…you focus on freeing Kakashi-sensei" Kiba said with a feral grin, his clone mimicking the grin.

The water clone broke out laughing as the Genin actually looked prepared to fight him again. "Haha…So you're going to keep on 'playing ninja'? Pathetic. When I was about your age…my hands were already caked with blood!" The Clone said, its opened hand raised in front of it and its fingers slightly curled up.

"The Demon, Zabuza…" Kakashi muttered, glaring at his captor. "Ah? So you've heard about it then! Wonderful! Go on! Tell them if you know so much" You could see Zabuza's mouth from beneath the bandages curl up into a smile.

"Long ago, Kirigakure no Sato was also called Chigiri no Sato…and there was a final test all ninja's hopefuls had the overcome to become Ninja…" Kakashi trailed off, not having the heart to go on and tell what exactly the test was. "So you even know about _that_ graduation exam" Zabuza said before cracking up so badly he hunched slightly over.

"W-what exam?" Kiba asked in morbid curiosity, though he was fearful of the answer he would receive. "The exam was…a Fight to the **Death** between the students! Friends who have been trained and eaten together are pitted against each other and the one who kills the other first…becomes a Ninja!" The real Kiba looked pale as he received the answer he was expecting with dread.

Kakashi picked up the story, no point in trying to hide it now since Zabuza so _kindly_ told his students what the exam was. "10 years ago…Kirigakure was forced to change due to an incident the previous year…when a demon appeared amongst the other students. Without pause a young boy who wasn't even a Ninja…killed over a hundred of the students there" Kakashi said with his eyes closed as he recalled the details he had read after seeing a report on incident.

"I grow bored of talking…it's time for the brats to die!" The Zabuza clone said, causing the original to chuckle, and the clone began to walk forward towards the Genin. "Akamaru!" Kiba yelled sharply and his clone barked in response as both dropped onto all fours. "Sasuke, do it now! Gatsuga!" Kiba yelled as both he and Akamaru shot forward, drilling through the air towards the single Zabuza clone. "Heh, what a pathetic attack!" The clone taunted as it swung its cloned sword at one of Gatsuga's…only for the sword to get shredded into a fine mist by the rapidly rotating attack.

That caused the clone to blink in surprise before it realized it had strayed too far from its creator. It turned slightly to glance back it the original just in time to see Sasuke rushing towards the waterline before jumping into the air. "Damn it!" The Clone cursed as it tried moving to intercept Sasuke, only to get stopped by the ongoing Gatsuga.

Zabuza scowled as his clone was having trouble dealing with one little Genin and began flashing through the hand seals required to make more clones, but stopped as Sasuke leapt into the air and shouted, "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" and a dozen streams of fire shot from the black haired Genin on a collision course with the Ex-Mist Nin.

Zabuza was silently thankful the technique he needed to use used the same hand to start with as the Mizu Bunshin and smirked, the little brat wouldn't be expecting this! 'Suiton: Suijinheki!' Zabuza thought as he taunted the Uchiha just as a wall of water shot up between him and Sasuke's attack. "You honestly think such a pathetic attack could get me? A Jonin? Ha, Fool!"

Sasuke landed a few yards from the waterline and smirked arrogantly back at Zabuza, he knew as skilled as he was, he was only a Genin yet and a single Genin using a C-Rank Katon Jutsu was extremely unlikely to hit a Jonin of Zabuza's level. But the Katon Jutsu was a simply a shroud for the _real_ attack. An attack Zabuza didn't predict, thankfully.

There was a loud hissing noise as the bolts of fire collided with the wall of water and large columns of steam arose into the air. Zabuza's smirk quickly turned into a deep scowl as a dozen or so shuriken pierced his Sujinheki technique. He was left with few options, take the mass of shuriken and pray he survived or release his captive and hope he survived. A lose-lose situation if he ever saw one, but he'd be damned if he was going to let a _Genin_ kill him! Only someone worthy of his respect would be killing _him_ anytime soon.

Zabuza jumped quickly to the side but a quarter of the shuriken managed to snag his right arm and leg. "Argh! You stupid brat!" Zabuza screamed at Sasuke with blood shot eyes as he prepared to launch his sword at the upstart of a Genin that hand managed to make him bleed.

Just as he was about to swing his sword, a hand with an iron tight grip suddenly latched onto the wrist of the hand he was using to swing his sword.. Slowly, He turned to look at a slowly raising Kakashi who looked at him with eyes darkened by rage and hatred, much to his shock.

"Sasuke, Kiba…Great plan you two. You guys sure have grown up!" Kakashi said as he squeezed Zabuza's wrist tighter causing the rogue Nin to wince slightly. "Using Kiba and Akamaru's Gatsuga as a distraction so you, Sasuke, could move in and use your Katon Jutsu to hide your Shuriken…Not a bad plan. Now, Zabuza…" Kakashi turned his gaze from his Genin towards the man whose arm he was holding, "I don't fall for the same Jutsu twice. So what will you do now?" He said levelly and tauntingly at Zabuza.

"Tch" Zabuza replied as he sharply struck out with his left hand, forcibly dislodging Kakashi's hand from his wrist and leapt a great distance away from the Copy Nin. He began to prepare one of his more powerful Jutsu's in an effort to finish Kakashi off at that moment. But much to Zabuza's horror, the tomoe in Kakashi's Sharingan were a black blurred ring due to the speed at which they were spinning allowing Kakashi to not only mimic Zabuza's hand signs, but to sign them faster.

Those few hand sign difference allowed Kakashi to form and fire off the jutsu a good second or two faster than Zabuza. "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" Kakashi roared ahead of Zabuza. The water behind and around Kakashi started to swirl up into the shape of a dragon before it let out a tremendous roar, like that of a waterfall, as it hurled itself at Zabuza and his barely formed water dragon.

Kakashi's water dragon collided with Zabuza, creating a geyser that launched itself almost a hundred feet into the air. The resulting tidal wave washed ashore, nearly knocking Sasuke over as he fought with all his strength to keep standing. Kiba had to rush over to Tazuna to keep him from being swept away while Akamaru, still in his henge, leapt into a nearby tree for safety.

'That many seals…so quickly…That's the power of the Sharingan?' Sasuke said in amazement. Even though he came from a clan of Sharingan users, seeing it in action, in combat, was something else all together. Having not achieved the Sharingan yet himself left him in envious anticipation for when he would finally awaken his.

With a pained roar, Zabuza got to his feet and launched himself at Kakashi, intending to cleave him in half with his Kubikiri Hocho, only for Kakashi to block his massive blade with a tiny little kunai. 'What the hell's going on?' Zabuza thought desperately as he jumped back to gain some space between him and the Konoha Jonin. 'He…My moves…it's like he's-' Zabuza thought as he tried dashing around Kakashi, only for him to mimic his moves perfectly. When he stopped he raised one arm above his head and the other in front of his chest as he prepared another jutsu and Kakashi continued to mimic him perfectly. His thoughts were cut off when Kakashi finished them for him, "-completely reading them."

'What the fuck! Did he really read my mind? Damn it all! That…' His hands snapped together to form the triangle hand sign for 'Bird'. Once again Kakashi finished his thoughts for him, completely unnerving him in the process, "Fucking eye is pissing me off! Right?" One could hear the cruel smirk in Kakashi's voice.

Few times did Zabuza feel fear, now was one of them as his opponent was not only copying and reading him perfectly, he was making him lose his nerve with each and every passing second. The tiny red veins in his eyes starting making themselves known as his eyes bulged from his mounting stress levels. "All you're doing is copying me!" Zabuza screamed in a shaky raged filled voice. "You can't beat me you god damn monkey bastard!" Roared both Zabuza and Kakashi, causing the former to flinch.

With a desperate roar, Zabuza's hands blurred through numerous hand signs faster than the eye could see…but Kakashi copied them perfectly. For an instant Zabuza thought he could see himself standing there in front of him instead of Kakashi, causing him to freeze up with his hand seals. Zabuza's last desperate thought was this, 'I-is this…one of his Genjutsu techniques?', as Kakashi let loose the technique he had wanted to use.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" Kakashi said with a deadly calm as a massive torrent of water suddenly rose several meters into the air. "Impossible!" Zabuza managed to scream as the massive wake of water slammed into his body. His pained scream could almost be heard over the roar of water as it swept him up and harshly smashed his body against one of the thick trees.

The Genin and the client didn't fare much better. Sasuke was swept into the tree line but managed to grab onto a low hanging branch before he too was slammed into a tree. Kiba wasn't so lucky and ended up cushioning Tazuna as both of them crashed into a tree. Kiba groaned in pain as the waves kept pressed the overweight older man against him.

Before the waves even died down, Kakashi launched a hail of Kunai at Zabuza's form. Four of them hit Zabuza, one in his right arm, two in his right leg, and one above the kneecap while the other landed in his upper thigh, and the other sank into his upper right chest, but was stopped by his ribcage. "H-how…? C-can you really…see the future?" Zabuza painfully asked Kakashi, who drew another Kunai as he stared at him. "Yeah…and you're going to die" Kakashi ominously said.

Suddenly three senbon lodged themselves in Zabuza's neck, who let out a strangled cry as he fell onto his knees before collapsing onto his chest, motionless. Everyone turned in the direction the Senbon had originated from and stared at a person, in a blue kimono with a decorative white face mask, standing on a low hanging tree branch. The person giggled almost playfully, "You're right~. He's dead~ hehe" The masked person said as 'she', if the voice was any indication, hopped down from the tree and started to slowly walk towards Zabuza's body.

Kakashi used Shunshin to quickly get over to Zabuza's motionless body and pressed his hand to his throat and checked for a pulse. "He really is dead…" He murmured as he looked at the approaching Hunter-Nin.

"I thank you very much. I had been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time…but due to his abilities, I was worried about getting too close. So thank you." The Hunter-Nin said with a small bow.

"That mask…So you're a Kiri Hunter-Nin…" Kakashi stated as he looked to the bowing 'woman'. "You are correct" 'She' said with a small nod.

"Oww…What a Hunter-Nin?" Kiba groaned as he pushed a dazed Tazuna off him. The question drew the Hunter-Nin's attention to Kiba, who gently replied, "I am a member of Kirigakure's Hunter-Nin division…We hunt down Rogue Ninja and kill them. Is that a good enough answer…?" 'She' asked gently before Kiba nodded and muttered a small 'thanks'.

"I will now dispose of his body…since it seems to be a body containing many secrets. Your battle is over now, Ninja of Konoha" 'She' said and Kakashi simply nodded before moving away from Zabuza's corpse. "Farewell" She murmured as she disappeared in a swirl of leaves after hoisting Zabuza's arm over her shoulder.

With a heavy sigh, Kakashi looked to his team and to the still unconscious Sakura. "Now we have to get Tazuna-san back to his home, so let's move out!" Kakashi said just moments before collapsing onto the ground. "S-sensei! What's wrong?" Kiba exclaimed worriedly and Kakashi groaned a response for him, "Chakra exhaustion…I'm gonna need someone to carry me back…"

"I'll…erm…Carry your Sensei while you two can carry your…teammate and you can all use my home to relax at" Tazuna offered sincerely, still in light shock from witnessing a Ninja battle on such a scale. The Genin nodded in acceptance and thanks before Sasuke, who shivered in horror as he realized he was the only one fit enough to carry Sakura back, since Kiba had used a lot of his chakra to keep up his Gatsuga as long as he had.

**

* * *

**

**Konoha. Hokage's office. About the Same time as the Fight in Wave.**

"Kurenai-san, Kakashi has requested reinforcements for his C-Rank mission with his team, which has become at least a B-Rank Mission, according the information his summon provided. Normally, I would send a Chunin team to reinforce Kakashi, however, your team has…lots of potential and I believe this mission would best show that. Do you believe your team is ready to undergo a B-Rank mission?" The Hokage asked Team 8's Sensei firmly.

She had just come from monitoring the joint training session her team was having with Team Gai, after one of the Hokage's ANBU had arrived with a priority message for her to head to the Hokage's office immediately.

"A B-Rank…? That's a bit of a stretch for them, Hokage-sama. The past two month's I've had them, they've grown in leaps and bounds, but…taking on a B-rank is…" Kurenai trailed off with a bit of a wince. A B-Rank mission against Ninja could include enemy Jonin and she didn't want to risk her Genin like that.

"I understand. However, I believe that the enemy Ninja, if any are left, are in the High Genin to Chunin ranges. As evident from the two Chunin's Kakashi's team has already engaged and defeated. I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't think your team was capable…so again, do you accept this mission for your team?"

Kurenai inwardly winced. When the Hokage gave you a suggestion, you took it as an order; so essentially, the Hokage had just ordered her team to take on a mission that could potentially be out of their league. "Y-Yes, sir…I can have my team mobilized to leave within the hour. All that we would need to do is bring along more gear for a long term mission and we would be set."

"Good, good…That's quicker then I hoped. Do it and rescue Team 7 as soon as you can." The Hokage ordered as he took deep puff from his pipe. "I'll inform my team now, by your leave, Hokage-sama" Kurenai said, bowing to her supreme commander, who waved her to go. 'I hope Kakashi's info is up to date…I don't want my Genin facing down with enemy Jonin in the area…' Kurenai thought as she made her way to inform her team of their B-Rank Rescue/Support Mission.

**

* * *

**

AN: I think I'll end it here for now. Coming up soon: **Chapter 5: The Wave Debacle Conclusion!**

Team 8 will have their spot light Returned as they make for Wave! Bet'cha you weren't expecting Team 7 to still be the focal point for the Wave Mission when I told you want I was calling this next chapter! Anyhow..

The Primary pairing that I've been **thinking of** is: ReikoxFemKyuubi (and/or Reikox…You'll see). As for Hinata…well…I have plans for her. And no, they **don't** involve ReikoxHinata. (AkashXD, you'll know which pairing I'm thinking of...it was #3 in the PM's)

-Now, I've been thinking about something's concerning the Kyuubi…Adding some treats to it. Because I dislike the fact that this extremely powerful being ONLY has the capacity to destroy, to kill. It's so bloody powerful that…its ability to destroy things should only be rivaled by its Ability to Create. I've put a lot of thought into it and realized that…this would perfectly aid my story and give the Kyuubi a _True Name_.

-As it stands, **Hisa** is only something the Kyuubi told Reiko so that Reiko had a Name to call her by; it is _not_ the Kyuubi's true name for my story.

**Final question: Haku Male or Female, live or die? And Pairing suggestions.**

Please note that this story has high chances of ending up as a **Yuri**. I know that may lose some of my readers…but I hadn't intended it to become a Yuri when I first thought up the idea…it was later on that I discovered Hetero pairing with Reiko wouldn't work out very well.

**RECENT UPDATE: 1/12/2011 2:55PM MST **

**In Chapter 6, I plan on having my darkest moment of this story occur. It will be ONE of the reasons why I made this story is M rated. I will NOT go into much detail but...**

**Sakura's life hangs in your hands. Whether she Lives or Dies...it doesn't effect my storyline. Do remember, I do take any votes seriously and will consider your opinions...But I may or may not use them depending on my mood. (Because I have planned out my story, certain votes will make me go with certain variants I have planned)  
**

Master word count: 12,284

Signed,

Kit the (Not so) Fiendish Fire Cat~!


	5. The Wave Debacle Conclusion

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Naruto. The name "Reiko Inoue" I'll put claim forward to. Since I spent like two hours making that name (Wanted to find Meanings I liked). The name and name alone are all I claim. The character I've Modeled Reiko from does NOT belong to me and is, in fact, owned by Kishimoto

AN: I am **no longer accepting** anonymous reviews simply because…Some kid decided to flood my inbox with review alerts by constantly posting (Numerous) spam flames to each and every one of my chapters. Because of that…I'm no longer accepting flames of "Your/Ur story sucks/sux" etc. Send me something like that and I'll report you! And yes, I can report you for a good number of things. If you use profanity, I can report you for that. If you send something like the above, I can report you for spam! I think it's fair that I give you a warning!

Only Flames that use _**constructive criticism**_ will be accepted.

I've had enough with bigoted _children_.

Don't like my story, well, this is _**CHAPTER FIVE**_ (Some 30k Words in), you shouldn't have made it this far. Though I applaud you for wasting your life on my story if you hated it that much. It just proves the little statement above this block.

Now, it was pointed out to me, that I should've started this story out with a prologue instead of hinting at reasons for Reiko's change. I'll touch up upon that issue and please ignore the cliché I used…it was the only thing I could really think of at the time that flowed with my story.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 5: The Wave Debacle Conclusion**

**With Team 8 and Team Gai. Unspecified Training Field.**

Gai's eyes narrowed as the ANBU had Kurenai report immediately to the Hokage's office. Either she was in trouble for something or there was an emergency dispatch going out for her team. "Alright everyone! Your fires of youth need time to replenish! Take a break, but stay here." He called out, much to the relief of Team 8, who after two months of the occasional training session with Team Gai, still couldn't hold a candle to Gai's Genin when it came to physical stamina.

Reiko faired a little better with the training given her never ending amount of Chakra but Chakra could only help slow down the effects of physical fatigue. Even if she had enough chakra to continue on, her body would give out long before then…and Gai was a hellish Taijutsu teacher. Just moments within seeing Reiko, he picked out a Taijutsu style that he figured would be best with her and she picked up that style like a fish to water.

The style was primarily an offensive hard-style type that combined cool self-control with a go-for-broke last ditch Ferocity and rapid striking. It concentrated on abrupt, violent attack's meant to either cripple or kill your opponent. It was an extremely difficult form to learn and even with the use of Kage Bunshin, Reiko only had the very basic forms down, enough for defense but not the offensiveness the style was used for. Gai had specifically forbid her from practicing this style on anyone outside of the little training sessions between the two teams for fear that Reiko might accidentally injure someone badly. She could practice the forms and the beginner moves on her own however.

Gai shot a look over to the redhead, who was chatting seemingly happily with her teammates under the shade of a tree, and his eyes darkened slightly. He suspected he knew who her late mother was, there was too many similarities between Reiko and the woman he suspected. Red Hair, violet eyes, unique chakra, an addiction for Salt Ramen, and a ferocious hand to hand fighter with the right when she knew a form that suited her. It was all too much of a coincidence, he wondered, as he stood off to the side with his arms crossed, if anyone else had picked up on the similarity.

It was only a few moments later that he noticed Kurenai walked back toward the little combined group with a grim expression on her face, prompting Gai to intercept her. "Can you talk about it?" He asked softly, knowing that some Ninja related things couldn't be talked about. "The Hokage has ordered Team 8 to go on a B-Rank SR&D* mission. It seems the Client for Team 7's mission lied about who was after him. I don't think my team is ready for a B-Rank yet, but…an order is an order." Kurenai replied softly as they walked towards their Genin. "I see. If things turn out for the worst, I'll have the Hokage put my team on standby." "Thank you, Gai" Kurenai received a sharp nod from her fellow Jonin, who thankfully didn't do his 'nice guy' smile or pose.

Kurenai's Genin stopped their chatter as they noticed their Sensei walking up to them and looked to her and at her grave expression before standing up rigidly. Whatever their Sensei had to say, it didn't seem good. Team Gai's Genin noticed Kurenai's grave expression and each subconsciously inched closer to hear what the Jonin might say.

"Alright Team 8…The Hokage has given us Emergency Deployment orders to head out and reinforce Team 7 in Wave Country. The estimated time we'll be there is _three weeks_ so pack your supplies accordingly…and be aware that this is a _B-Rank_mission." Kurenai heavily emphasized the rank rating to stress how important and how dangerous their mission might be and causing her Genin's eyes to widen greatly. They were mildly excited that they were able to get such a High Ranking mission so early on in their careers, but fearful at the same time. Only Chunin and Jonin were assigned to B-Rank missions. Not Genin.

Team Gai was shocked, to say the list. Neji's eyes widened, if only for a second, before sending a very dark look towards the Hyuuga Heiress. It was clear that he expected this mission to be the death of her. Tenten's jaw simply dropped, while Lee started to shout something along the lines of 'Good Luck' with liberal use of 'Flames of Youth' mixed in. Not that Team 8 heard it, since they shot home to gather the supplies they might need.

Kurenai watch her Genin grimly before heading out to pick up her own supplies. She prayed to whatever God's or Goddess's that were out there, to protect her Genin and see them relatively safely through whatever this mission had in store for them.

**About 40 Minutes Later. Main Gate.**

Kurenai looked after her Genin as if appraising them before nodding, "Good…I plan on making it to Wave and to Team 7 before Sunset…It's going to be a rough run but don't let your guards down. I don't think we'll encounter any enemy Ninja so far behind their objective, but we can't be too careful" She stressed to her Genin. She wasn't going to let anything happen to them on her watch.

"That having been said, let's move out!" Kurenai commanded before turning to run down the road in a brisk run. Glancing behind her, she noticed her Genin keeping up admirably; each one had a grim and determined look on their face, with a hint of pride. They recognized that their Hokage thought they were ready for this mission, since he ordered their Sensei to take the mission, and they weren't about to screw things up.

It didn't take Team 8 long to come across the first encounter Team 7 had, with the Ex-Mist Chunin. Hinata ended up throwing up at the smell emanating from the dead Chunin's corpse. The mixed smell of a sun cooked corpse and the wastes that had evacuated its bowel's upon death. It wasn't something the Heiress was used to. Reiko stiffened up slightly and grimaced at the smell, but was generally able to ignore it, since she had smelt something similar when she killed Mizuki, though this corpse smelled better then Mizuki's, since she literally roasted the latter.

Shino had the least reaction to the corpse since his Clan was the leading authority on Bugs…they had aided Forensic teams with decomposition experiments and Shino had often seen the corpse 'farms' to study what bugs did to decomposing bodies. It was a truly fascinating thing to watch the behaviors of bugs when given a pig's corpse, or at least Shino thought so.

Team 8 looked to the other Chunin, this one still tied to the tree. The Chunin groaned as he slowly raised his head up, "H-Help…me…" He moaned pathetically as he looked over the Konoha Nin in front of him. His eyes were ringed with dark circles from illness and his oxygen mask had…stuff spewing from out around it, most likely vomit from being exposed to his teammates rotting corpse.

"I say we leave him there to die slowly as punishment for even thinking of attacking a Konoha Team." Reiko dispassionately said with the corners of her lip's curled in disgust. This man was a Traitor to his own Village and…she had experience with Traitors and the only thing they deserved was death. "Reiko!" Kurenai gasped in surprise at her students' cold words, "That's…a possibility. Thank you for the suggestion" Kurenai grinned cruelly at the Chunin, causing said Chunin to look at the Jonin in fear. Even though some people say Konoha Nin are softhearted little pussies, they were still Ninja…and _no_ Ninja was sane, so it was a possibility this Jonin might just leave him there to die of exposure.

"Now…I'd like some information before I do anything to…help you." Kurenai said softly as she knelt down a few feet in front of the Ex-Mist Chunin. "And do remember, I'm a Jonin, I'll _know_ if you're lying to me…Now, How many other Ninja are there with you? Who's paying for your little operation and where is your client…residing? If you don't want to tell me, well, I'm sure I can agree with my Genin's recommended course of Action" She smiled sweetly at the Chunin, whose already pale face, paled even further before he started spewing all the information he had.

Including the two Chunin here, there were four others under Zabuza's command. Three Genin and another Chunin. Kurenai's eyes darkened as she processed the information. This greatly exceeded a B-Rank Mission now; the presence of so many higher ranking Ninja put the Mission at an A-Rank. The Chunin also told them where Zabuza was based and where their Employer, Gatou, was staying. "Damn it, Hatake!" Kurenai softly cursed at the information. "It looks like our B-Rank has just become an A-Rank…" She said darkly and heard, who she guessed was Hinata, gasp in shock.

Kurenai killed the Chunin quietly, trapping him in a Genjutsu that literally scared the Rogue Nin to death, once she was sure that she couldn't get any more information from him. After all, it's not like they could afford to let a hostile Nin go and since he was just a lowly Chunin, he wasn't worth sending for people to pick him up. With a sigh, Kurenai rose up from kneeling sent a soft look to her Genin before turning to Reiko. "Reiko, you've already had some experience with destroying Ninja's corpses, but Shino and Hinata have only heard of it. Would you mind showing them? I don't want to do this but…I need to make sure everyone is prepared for this sort of this…"

"O-Of course, Kurenai-Sensei…" Reiko muttered as her hands flew through the required hand seals and inhaled, only to gag at the intake of foul air. Reiko groaned as a few wisps of smoke left her mouth before she coughed lightly, "Sorry, Sensei…" She said before running through the hand seals once again, "Katon: Hōenka!" She exhaled heavily, and launched a couple of small balls of fire at the body in the road before dragging the attack to the newly dead Chunin that was bound the tree.

Hinata and Shino both grimaced at the smell of burning flesh as Reiko stared dispassionately at the burning corpses. Kurenai placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently, "Thank you…they needed to see this." She whispered softly to the redheaded girl who responded in turn, "True, Sensei, very true…But I hate to show something like this to Hinata-chan…" Reiko murmured as she looked at a wide-eyed and staring Hyuuga, who was looking back and forth, in horror, at the burning bodies. "Such is the life of a Kunoichi…it isn't glamorous."

Reiko could only nod in agreement at the statement at her Sensei's statement. Becoming a Kunoichi was _not_ something glamorous and more often than not, exceedingly dangerous for them. But she couldn't shake the fact that Hinata was slowly losing her innocence, something that Reiko lost almost a decade ago when she first was forced to meet her Onee-sama.

**Flashback-ish Scene**

Reiko thought back to when she was four years of age and still a boy, still Naruto. To when she realized that the world she lived in was a nice, happy place…that it was truly dark and cruel and extremely unfair. Something a four year old shouldn't have to know.

She could see a four year old Naruto running through nameless streets with nameless buildings flashing by, could feel his lungs burning as he ran, and the overwhelming amounts of fear that threatened to over flow. She bit her lip as she heard the shouts of anger, hatred, and pain calling after him. The memory made her eyes start to burn as they threatened to spill the growing tears.

Her hands bunched into fists as she watched herself, then himself, take a wrong turn while running down unfamiliar streets and right into a dumpster, knocking himself down onto his rear and rattling him so badly the world spun around him. The angry voices had caught up to him.

She could remember turning, fearfully, around to look at the people chasing that had been chasing her, she was glad that she could remember each and every one of those cruel, unforgiving faces, most likely thanks to Hisa-onee-sama. One thing Hisa had imparted onto her when she was changed was the vengeful nature of the Kitsune and knowing those faces…would be invaluable for when she finally got around to it.

She couldn't remember exactly what the crowd had been shouting at her since there was just so many people screaming at once, turning whatever words they were saying into unintelligible noise, but for a four year old, that level of noise was the scariest thing on the planet. The crowd didn't seem to be satisfied with simple name calling and soon the first hit came swooping in, a broken broom handle, to hit Naruto across the side of his head, causing him to tumble to the ground.

Again and Again that broom handle was swung down, loud snapping noises signaling the contact between flesh and wood, only seemed to jeer the crowd into a further frenzy. Soon boots and fists joined with the broom handle. The tiny bones of a four year old couldn't weather the assault and bone after bone snapped and shattered and the pain, oh god the _pain_! Reiko shuddered as she remembered it, her body aching slightly in remembrance.

The four year old couldn't take it and was soon rendered unconscious, but even that didn't give him the solitude he sought, didn't give him respite from the pain as it reach him even in his mind. The pain drove him further and further into his mind until he heard it. The warm, loving, and soothing words luring him deeper and deeper into his mind.

Soon the four year old was desperately trying to find where those soothing words were coming from…until he found it. A lone red haired, red eyed woman sat behind a massive caged door, with a sad, depressed look on her face.

The spacing between the bars was more than large enough that she could easily walk through them but she simply sat behind them, beckoning him closer and closer until he was right in front of the bars. Next thing he knew, his head was against her chest as she held onto him softly, lovingly.

Reiko could remember how the Hisa kept softly apologizing for what was happening to him, that it was her fault that he was being treated so cruelly. When she asked why, Hisa didn't hesitate on revealing herself to be the Kyuubi and explained that she was just a simple misunderstood being, much like himself. That she was mistreated by the very same people who were mistreating him and they were only hurting him because she was sealed up inside of him.

The Kyuubi went so far as to ask for forgiveness and even told him that she would always be by his side to support and care for him as best she could. It wasn't long after that that she began to call Hisa, Okaa-sama.

The amassed crowd quickly drew the attention of the local Ninja forces, which were quick to come to Naruto's aid. The doctors would say that it was a miracle, even with the unspeakable thing sealed inside of him, that he even survived the attack, since the assault had broke nearly eighty percent of all the bones in his body and caused extensive internal trauma.

Even with the Hisa's aid, a satisfactory recovery took nearly five months and another month and a half; he still suffered a mild ache from his still healing body. Hisa had, hesitantly told him that she could heal him faster but he would need to put his complete trust into her so that she could change him.

For nearly two years since that day, Hisa had been slowly working gaining Naruto's complete and utter confidence. Finally she told him that he would never achieve his dreams if he stayed Naruto…and he agreed with his Okaa-sama. People hated him too much for him to gain the positive recognition he wanted, so he took up the Kyuubi's offer to change him.

For those two years, her heart had grown progressively dark at her Okaa-sama showed her the cruelty in it and the capacity for Evil that humans had, their capacity for depravity. But with Hisa's help and prompting, Reiko was able to keep some of her childlike innocence, to act like a semi-normal child along with the newly created clone of her old self.

Both Reiko and Hisa agreed that the loss of innocence was a horrible thing and that no child should be forced to lose it. So when she saw that a little flicker of light die in Hinata's eyes, it brought on the memories of her own loss of innocence. At least Hinata's loss wasn't as traumatic as her own loss.

But that loss of innocence had been her greatest moment as well, for without that experience, she would've never met her Onee-sama as soon as she did and she would still be poor abused Naruto and she wouldn't be here as she was now.

**Flash Back/Memory-ish Scene Finished**

Kurenai had them watch the bodies smolder for a few more moments before telling them to move out. It wasn't until early evening that Team 8 finally made it to Wave, since they had to wait for a boat to take them there and from there, they asked around for Tazuna's house. It was very annoying since many of the people wouldn't answer them. Finally Reiko, in a fit of annoyance, shouted out that someone had damn well better show them to Tazuna's house or she was going to start shooting off Katon Jutsu left and right.

Reiko was scolded by Kurenai for doing that but eventually someone, fearfully, came up to show them how to get to Tazuna's. Prompting a very loud apologize to the people of the town from Reiko.

**With Team 7.**

A knock at the door caused the three Genin of Team 7 to tense up and stair up from the dinner their hostess, Tsunami, had graciously prepared for them. "Oh? I wonder who that could be…at this time of night…" Tsunami murmured as she started to get up from the dinner table.

"Wait, Tsunami-san, let us answer it" Sakura said firmly, resolving herself to _not_ be useless this time. Her fellow Genin nodded with her as they all got up and drew Kunai. "Sakura let me answer it. I can react faster than you can" Sasuke told her levelly, causing her to blush at his 'concern' for her. "N-no! I want to answer it! I'll be ready if it's enemy! I won't be useless!" She said passionately, causing Sasuke to inwardly smile as he thought, 'Heh, Finally she's not being a thrice damned fan girl…Some peace from her finally, I hope.'

Sasuke and Kiba positioned themselves on either side of the door, prepared to strike out with their Kunai should the person on the other side to be hostile. Steeling herself with a deep breath, Sakura yanked the door open quickly with one hand, while the other had a Kunai raised in front of her in a defensive position.

Sakura blinked as her eyes immediately were attracted to the shiny reflective Hitai'ate of the group outside of the door. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw the symbol on them and slowly lowered her Kunai. "K-Kurenai-san!" Sakura bowed as she remembered Team 8's Jonin Sensei, this prompted Sasuke and Kiba to move from their ambush positions.

"Team 7…" Kurenai muttered as she looked over the trio, "Where's Hatake? Your Sensei?" She asked immediately. "Kakashi-sensei is bedridden from chakra exhaustion…and is unconscious…" Sakura said nervously.

Kurenai let out an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose, might as well inform Hatake's Genin then. "Alright then…Team 8 Reporting as Team 7's reinforcement for the C-Rank turned _A_-Rank…I wanted to inform your Sensei of information we managed to gather from the Chunin your team defeated. Hatake…did interrogate them, right?" Her question drew blank looks from the Genin, causing her to sigh again. 'What the hell is that failure of a Jonin _thinking_?' She practically screamed to herself, 'First thing he should've done after capturing them was to interrogate them! Lord…I'll have to bring his actions, or rather inactions, to the Hokage's attention!'

Kakashi's lack of information gathering had jeopardized not only his team, but now her own team! Had he taken five minutes to gather information, he would learned the true Ranking of the mission and probably would've gotten a full Jonin Team, if not an ANBU squad to aid in taking down someone of Zabuza's level. And not a Genin Team.

"Excuse me!" Tsunami called out as she peaked around the corner after hearing the conversation between the strangers and the young Ninja and deeming it safe, "You're welcome to come in…though it might be a little cramped with all of you here…and I didn't…make enough food for your…team. Oh! My name is Tsunami" The older woman bowed in apology. Truth was her food stores had been all but depleted by preparing food for Team 7.

"Thank you for your hospitality" Kurenai and her Genin bowed together before entering the home. "We do have our supplies, so you don't need to concern yourself with feeding us. We came prepared for a long mission." She added and noted the sigh of coming from Tsunami, causing her to wonder if Team 7 actually brought food supplies with them. Probably not, given who their Sensei was.

Turning to Team 7, Kurenai asked for a brief on the events that occurred after Kakashi had sent out the request for Aid and was mildly horrified that they already had encountered Zabuza and that a 'Hunter-Nin' actually picked the body up and took it away. Sasuke pointed out that Senbon was the weapon used to take Zabuza out with.

"Wonderful!" Kurenai said in exasperation. It took all her self control to not throw her hands up into the air. "I don't think Zabuza is dead. Hunter-Nin dispose of bodies on the spot…and Senbon aren't, generally, lethal weapons. They're mostly used for acupuncture. The so called Hunter-Nin probably put Zabuza into a false death state by temporarily stopping his heart. Damn it, Hatake!" She cursed aloud, shocking both teams of Genin.

Tazuna took that moment to walk into the room and was extremely shocked at Kurenai's revelation. "Y-you mean that…that super powered Monster is still alive?" Tazuna gasped in horror as he recalled the day's earlier events. "Yes" Kurenai simply replied, not caring to elaborate the situation again.

Kakashi, who had been lying on a mat in a room adjacent to the Dining room, sudden sat up and exclaimed, "He's Alive! Guys, Zabuza is still alive! The Hunter-Nin shouldn't have taken the body away like that! I shouldn't have missed that!"

"We already know, Sensei…" Kiba muttered causing Kakashi to blink in surprise before Kurenai walked into view, previously hidden from him by a partition. "Ah, Kurenai-san…It's good to see you. I take it you and yours are the reinforcements?" Kakashi said slowly, most likely from exhaustion.

"Yes…and the situation is bad. Very bad, Hatake. The…Chunin you left tied up had some interesting information he so kindly informed me of. Zabuza has another Chunin ranked Ninja along with three Genin with him. We have the approximate locations of his hide out…along with that of his employers." Kurenai said with a deadly calm as she stared at the downed Jonin.

Kakashi's uncovered eye widened slightly at the information and figured that the Hunter-Nin earlier had actually been that third Chunin. "Shit…" He murmured as he realized his own screw up. Had he interrogated the Chunin from earlier, he would've known that that Hunter-Nin really wasn't a Hunter-Nin from his unusual actions. "'Shit' Indeed…" Kurenai said after taking a deep breath. "Your Orders, Hatake? You're the Senior Jonin here…" Kurenai said distastefully at the thought of having to take orders from such a screw up.

"We need to prepare before it's too late since their no assurances that Gatou hasn't hired more Ninja." Kakashi said softly as he looked over he looked over Kurenai and his team. "Prepare? How Sensei, you can hardly move!" Sakura exclaimed causing Kakashi to giggle. "Well, until I recover there's still another Chunin and three Genin to worry about. So you need to do some training!" Team 7's Sensei replied earnestly.

Kurenai's eyebrow twitched slightly as she was seemingly ignored. "This Training will help you and Team 8 fair better against the lower ranked Ninja while Kurenai-san and I handle the Jonin." Kakashi continued, "After all, we have some time, I believe. Since his injuries will take a week or so to completely heal"

"Keh! Sounds fun, Kakashi-sensei!" Kiba exclaimed, pumped up by the info of actual, useful training. A small voice suddenly cut in, "That's not fun at all…" which drew Tazuna's attention. "Oh! Inari! Where were you all this time?" Tazuna happily said at the sight of his grandson, who promptly but softly welcomed him home.

Tsunami walked up to Inari, "Inari say 'Hello' to these people, and they're the Ninja who protected Grandpa on his way here!" She pointed to Team 7 before pointed to Team 8, "And those are their friends come to help protect your Grandpa too"

"They're all gonna die, Mom" Came Inari's bleak and rude reply, stunning both Teams of Ninja. "There's no way they can win against Gatou. He's too powerful." Inari said darkly.

"Inari, right?" Reiko said as gently as she could, "The only ones who will by dying anytime soon are Gatou's hired henchmen. As for Gatou himself…well, He better hope I don't get within arm's length of him because he's _nothing_ against me…or any of us" She said confidently but the kid didn't seem taken by her confidence.

"What are you? Some kind of stupid, girl? You're just a kid like me and a kid can't do anything!" Inari yelled harshly, drawing Reiko's ire. "You should all leave if you don't want to die" He said softly before turning and heading to his room. A silent Tazuna and Tsunami watched him go and sent apologetic glances at the Konoha teams.

Reiko's exhale came out like a hiss as she watched the kid go. "What is it with little kids being so damn annoying…?" Reiko said with exasperation as she thought back to Konohamaru and earning a shrug from her fellow Genin.

"Tomorrow we'll begin the training so that everyone has time to rest up from today's…excitement." Kakashi said, earning a combined sigh of relief from both teams.

**

* * *

**

**The Next Day. Early Morning.**

With both Team's assembled in the woods near Tazuna's home, Kakashi, who was using crutches to move around, spoke to them, "Ok, So now we'll begin the training. It's a lesson to help you better use your Chakra, so that you won't tire out so easily from using Jutsu." Hinata hesitantly raised her hand instead of speaking up so that she didn't interrupt Kakashi.

"Yes, Hinata?" Kakashi prompted the young Heiress. "You're talking about t-the tree climbing exercise, right? Kurenai-sensei already has us working on Water Walking…" Team 7, along with their Sensei gawked in surprise.

Had Kurenai not opted to stay back with Tazuna and his family to guard them, she would've been, undoubtedly, gloating that little fact. "What?" Kiba yelled in surprise, "You can already walk on water?" Team 8 nodded in unison, causing Kiba and Team 7 to glare at their Sensei, who hadn't even taught them Tree walking yet.

"Um...Well…Team 8 why don't you return to your Sensei and help her with the look out if you already know this. Better safe than sorry when protecting the client…" Kakashi said with a sigh as Team 8 nodded before heading back.

Hinata spotted Inari heading towards their proposed training area and directed Shino and Reiko over to intercept him. "Hey, Kid, you were probably right with some of us dying. Team 7 is absolutely horrible." Reiko said to Inari, causing him to blink in surprise. "They're just now learning techniques that we learned two months ago." She continued with a sad smile.

"It's still a waste of time…" He murmured. "For them, maybe" The Redhead said. "Reiko!" Hinata exclaimed in shock at her teammate's cavalier attitude towards her fellow Nin. "That's not nice!" She admonished her redheaded teammate. "Ah…Sorry, Hinata-san" Reiko replied sheepishly. "Come on, Inari-san, we'll escort you back home" Hinata said softly as they all began to head back.

**

* * *

**

**Zabuza's hide out.**

"You came back defeated...I guess that shows that Kiri Ninja are all pathetic bugs. Couldn't even avenge his own men? Ha, and you call yourself a 'demon'? Don't make me laugh" The short stubby man known as Gatou insulted the bedridden Zabuza, causing the dark haired Chunin at Zabuza's side to narrow her eyes.

Two Samurai flanked Gatou, acting as his body guards. One of which, began to draw his sword, drawing the Chunin's attention and readied herself to slaughter the thug but Gatou's command to the Samurai to stay his sword caused her to pause.

"Hey, Swine, there's no need to stay silent" Gatou said as he walked over to Zabuza's prone form and reached out to grab his neck only for the Chunin's hand to shoot forward with an iron tight grip. "Don't touch Zabuza-sama with your filthy hands, _Pig_" She said to Gatou, eyes hard and cold.

The two Samurai thugs were quick to react as they unsheathed their swords in order to protect their boss. But before they could even move, the girl had disappeared behind them and grabbed their wrists, forcefully turning them so that each other's swords were pressed against the other's throats. "You shouldn't do that…I'm very pissed at the moment" She said softly as she began to further twist their wrists so the swords began to bite into the thugs throats.

Gatou was sweating bullets at the display, "O-One more time! That's your last chance to finish the job o-or else you won't be welcome here anymore! Understand that?" Gatou screamed before fleeing in terror. The girl let go of her hostages and they followed their boss out the door.

"Haku...you didn't have to do that, you know…" He said weakly, earning a nod from the girl. "I know, but I didn't want him touching you, Zabuza-sama" Haku replied with a soft, pleasant smile.

Zabuza couldn't help but feel what was left of his heart twinge at her display and undying loyalty. She was the perfect tool, something that would never betray him…and he knew that would be the death of her. The thought of her dying seemed extremely unfair for someone so young and still so innocent despite her own bloodthirstiness.

* * *

**Team 8**

Kurenai had been leaning against the railing along the side of the partially constructed bridge as she idly scanned over the workers and at Tazuna, keeping her senses alert for any possible threats. She noted her Team walked up and raised a curious eyebrow in their direction, wondering what they were doing back soon.

"Kurenai-sensei, Kakashi-san has dismissed us from training due to the fact we are further ahead in training then Team 7" Shino stated in a monotone voice. Kurenai raised her eyebrow further, a subtle hint from him to explain. "He was teaching them…tree walking." He elaborated after seeing the hint. "Oh Lord…" Kurenai groaned and didn't resist the urge to face palm herself at Kakashi's incompetence as a Jonin.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Kurenai noticed one of the workers walking up to Tazuna and eyed him carefully to assess his threat level, before dismissing him as one. Team 8 listened in onto, what seemed to be a fairly heated conversation between Tazuna and one of his workers.

"Hey, Tazuna…" An older worker said as he approached his boss, "I've been doing a lot of thinking recently and I want to stop working on the bridge…" "Why, Giichi? Not you too!" Tazuna cried in shock as one of his closer friends had decided to give up.

"I want to help you but if we continue Gatou will start sending men after us too! And…what's the point if we all get killed, huh? Why don't well all just quit building the bridge now…" The newly identified Giichi said in a defeated voice.

"I can't do that, Giichi…This Bridge is Our Bridge. We started building this bridge together in hopes that it would bring badly needed resources into our super poor Country…We can't here! Not when we're so close!" Tazuna pleaded with his friend. "But if we lose our lives…!" Giichi continued.

"We pooled our money together to hire our own Ninja…their mission is to protect me until this bridge is done…and with me working here on this bridge alongside everyone else…They'll protect you guys too since Konoha Ninja don't let innocents hang out to dry!" Tazuna yelled at Giichi, his arm swinging back to point at Team 8, who hardened their gazes at both Tazuna and Giichi.

Giichi didn't seemed convinced, so he voiced himself, "Ninja? Them? Their just a single woman and a couple of Children…What good will they do against Gatou…" Tazuna's lip curled in disgust. "Giichi…Don't come back tomorrow. Your no longer welcome to work on this bridge" Tazuna said coldly as he turned away to continue with his work, not having the heart to watch his broken friend walk away.

A few hours later, Tazuna called it a day and headed into town and Team 8 was able to observe firsthand how defeated the populace was. Everyone looked so pathetic, so sad. The crowds parted away from Tazuna and his escort, seeing the gleaming Konoha Hitai'ate on Kurenai and the Genin.

People began to whisper seeing Ninja's from Konoha, in what could only be described as a security detail, protecting their last beacon of hope. As the whispers spread, so did the hope that the bridge might actually be completed since _they_ had Ninja on _their_ side now. But that hope as just a tiny spark due to how long they had been oppressed but it was still a spark, waiting eagerly to find some steady tinder to catch a hold of so that it could grow into a raging inferno.

Team 8 entered the grocery store and shared a collective gasp at how barren it was. The shelves hardly had any stock on them whatever ever. Kurenai and Shino were able to keep their faces passive at the sight but both Reiko and Hinata couldn't keep the anger from screwing up their faces. Reiko knew how bad it was to live in poverty but this…this was on a whole other level! These people, the people of Wave, were completely destitute!

Tazuna noticed the looks of anger coming from the two female Genin and elaborated from them, "This is…the effect of Gatou's strangle hold on our country. The Bridge…is our only hope of getting food, resources, and money…We can barely afford to feed ourselves and the number of homeless…is horrifying." "If I get the chance, Tazuna-san…This Gatou person…I'll kill him, I promise you that." Reiko spat vehemently, causing Tazuna to stare down at her. For some reason, he knew this girl would keep her promise should she get the chance to act on it, it was rather scary.

Reiko murmured something softly after her declaration almost as an afterthought, something only Kurenai managed to hear. What Reiko said was, "And a Kitsune _never_ breaks her word." Kurenai blinked and wondered just want Reiko was talking about. The more she thought about it, she realized that Naruto had many Kitsune like qualities, probably from the Kyuubi and Reiko had practically grown up with Naruto. It was obvious that she would pick up some of his personality quirks, but to call herself a Kitsune? Kurenai shrugged it off; after all Ninja were allowed their personality quirks since it was their coping mechanism.

After leaving the grocery story, a little gaunt-faced girl dared approach Team 8 and held out her hands, pleadingly. Hinata reached into her pouch and pulled out two ration bars and handed it to the girl, telling her not to eat both at once since it would make her sick. The girl nodded, hope and happiness filling her before she ran off into the crowd of defeated people.

"I'm sure you've noticed how everyone has lost hope…We need that bridge to bring that hope back…to bring our courage back so that they can stand up on their own once again and not cower in fear…so children like that girl don't have to starve" Tazuna said softly after watching Hinata's display of kindness.

That night, for dinner, Team 8 had shared their Rations with Team 7 so that Tazuna's family could fully benefit from what little food he had managed to buy for his family. Sakura had been staring up at a picture on the wall while she ate her Ration bar as quickly as she could, since the damn thing tasted like cardboard. Sasuke and Kiba ate their ration bars so quickly they ended up throwing up.

"How come there a torn up picture on the wall? It looks like it was deliberately torn to remove that person from it…" Sakura asked after noticing how Inari had been staring at it. Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari all froze up before Tsunami spoke up. "That man…was my husband… Tsunami said sadly before Tazuna added his two cents, "And the man that was once called the Hero of this city…" Inari pushed himself harshly away from the table and stormed out of the room. His mother called desperately after him but was ignored.

"Father! I told you before to not to speak about that man in front of Inari!" Tsunami shouted in anguish at her father. "There seems to be some sort of explanation for this…" Kakashi said, ignoring how improper the question was. Kurenai didn't say anything since she was curious as well.

"That man…was Inari's step father and they were very close, like a real father and son would be. Inari used to be a very happy child, but he changed…when Gatou murdered his father!" Tazuna said loudly as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. "Our courage died the day the Gatou had Kaiza murdered…" Tazuna told the Teams from Konoha how Kaiza had saved the city by nearly sacrificing himself in order to help secure a Dam to prevent the city from being destroyed by a flood. He told them how Gatou came and put Kaiza to death to break the hearts of the People of Wave.

Tazuna proceeded to tell them how Gatou came in acting like god, saying that Kaiza was a terrorist and was disrupting Wave Country's peace…so as punishment, he would die. But before that, he had Kaiza beaten to within inches of his life before ordering his thugs to cut off a still conscious Kaiza's arms, making sure his thugs did it slowly to prolong Kaiza's screams. They then tied him up to a crucifix and beat him further before Gatou finally had enough and had him beheaded. And that Inari had been there to see it all.

Hinata and Sakura had tears openly running down their cheeks at the story while Reiko had tears that threatened to spill over. Kiba and Sasuke looked down right livid and Sasuke could relate slightly to little Inari, since he had seen his own parents murdered in front of him. The Jonin's had masked their emotions better than their Genin, but one look in Kurenai's eyes could tell you she was pissed as well. "I think…it's time for everyone to get some sleep…" Kakashi suggested, earning a round of nods.

**

* * *

**

**The Next Day.**

Kakashi had decided that he would give his Team a break from their Chakra training exercises and that Team 8 needed a break from guarding Tazuna, a task which they had been doing pretty much around the clock since their arrival. Team 7 would be taking over guard duty for the day.

Hinata and Shino had opted to 'patrol' around the city in order to take in the how Gatou's influence was devastating everything. Since they didn't have to be watchful for threats to Tazuna, they were able to better examine the buildings, which were in extreme disrepair. Hinata was horrified at the conditions of the buildings and the ragged, worn clothes the people wore. Being the Heiress to an extremely wealthy and influential Clan had shielded her from poorer folk, so she couldn't help but be disgusted at them even if she did feel bad for them and wanted to help.

Reiko had opted to go for a walk outside the limits of the city, wanting some fresh air and some time alone. Being cooped up in Tazuna's small house that only comfortably fit five people, with ten other people was a bit stifling…that and given the fact that the lack of rooms meant _all_ the Genin had to share a room together. So Reiko took the opportunity to explore the forests and fields that surrounded the Tazuna's city.

After a few hours of wondering, Reiko found a nice little field enclosed by tree's and decided that it would be a great place to relax, enjoy the fresh smells of Nature, and talk with her Beloved Onee-sama. Reiko laid back against a tree and closed her eyes as she went inside herself, closing herself to the world and letting her Onee-sama use her senses to watch the world around her.

"Onee-sama…I think I may need…a lot of your help for this mission. I don't think this last Chunin will be anything like Mizuki…and if that Jonin, Zabuza, manages to get Past Kurenai-Sensei and Kakashi-san…then we'll be in trouble." Reiko said demurely as Hisa slowly materialized in front of her, shy and ashamed at the thought that she would need to 'inconvenience' her Onee-sama in such way.

"**Mmm…Yes, I'll have to agree with you, Reiko. This last Chunin will be battle hardened from being on the run for so long…and not soft like Mizuki. I'll lend you my strength should you need it, but be aware that your body is still years away from handling my Chakra properly." **Hisa warned her 'imouto' as she gently pulled Reiko into a gentle hug.** "Don't be ashamed to ask for help…doing so shows great strength."** Hisa said shakily, trying to keep the disgust from entering her voice and barely succeeding at it. She was practically one step below a God in sheer power and to need the help stung her pride. At least, Reiko was…different now due to the transformation she underwent to become 'Reiko' so that helped alleviate some of her hurt pride.

Reiko smiled weakly and nodded as she snuggled against Hisa and returned the hug. The older redhead started to gently stroke the younger's hair, slowly lulling Reiko into a gentle sleep. If Hisa wanted to, now would've been the perfect time to take complete control of Reiko's body, but was only stopped because doing so wouldn't grant her the ability to get Revenge on those who had scorned her.

It never ceased to amaze Hisa at how quickly she could make Reiko fall asleep. So she let Reiko stay asleep for a couple of hours until something piqued Hisa's awareness. Someone was approaching the little field, **'Here to collect herbs? Hm…No. This person is a Shinobi and not a terrible one…Most likely that remaining Chunin. Let's see what you're going to do'** Hisa thought as she expanded Reiko's enhanced senses as best she could.

Much to Hisa's surprise the Ninja actually did stop to collect the herbs in the clearing. The wind shifted so that the persons scent was carried down in Reiko's generally direction, allowing Hisa to determine the Ninja's gender. The newly identified Kunoichi went about collecting herbs, using a small knife to cut the stems for a few moments later until she caught sight of Reiko's sleeping form.

At first the Kunoichi paid no mind to the sleeping girl until her eyes caught sight of the rather shiny Hitai'ate with an all too familiar Leaf symbol on it. The Kunoichi narrowed her eyes and carefully made her way over to the sleeping girl, prepared to use the little knife to slit her throat.

"I wouldn't get closer if I were you…" Reiko suddenly spoke up, startling the Kunoichi, before opening her eyes and sitting up. Hisa had woke her up at the last second. Reiko decided to play dumb since the Kunoichi in front of her didn't appear armed and was wearing only a simple sleeveless kimono. "Sneaking up on a Ninja like that is liable to get you killed" Reiko stated with annoyance at having been woken up and forced away from the 'arms' of her Onee-sama.

"I-I'm sorry, Miss…I was just worried that you might catch a cold sleeping in a place like this…I simply wanted to wake you up" The Kunoichi feigned innocence, trying to hide her original intentions. Reiko eyed the little knife in her eyes and glared, "Wake me up, huh? With a Knife?" Reiko said as she called the other older girl on her lie.

"Forgive me…but I was simply collecting herbs. Some of them have…spines so using a knife is the safest way to collect them!" The Kunoichi defended her story so vehemently that Reiko actually felt inclined to believe her. "Alright…I'll take your word for it." The Redhead said slowly, keeping the suspicion in her voice to let the other girl know she didn't believe a single word she said. "What's your name, Miss? I'd like to know the name of the person that was concerned about me catching a cold." Reiko said a moment later.

"Hm? My name is Haku…and you are?" Haku hesitantly asked, she wasn't expecting to get an answer from the Konoha Kunoichi. "Reiko. Inoue, Reiko. Genin of Konoha" The answer caused Haku to blink for a moment before flashing a small, cute smile at Reiko, causing the redhead to blush lightly. **"My my…You really do blush easily when confronted by a cute girl."** Hisa teased in the background of Reiko's thoughts. "It's nice to meet you, Inoue-san" Haku said with a small bow.

"Call me Reiko, and…I guess it's nice to meet you too, Haku-san" Reiko said with a slight nod. "I must get back to collecting the Herbs I need…a friend of mine is very ill and these herbs will help alleviate his pain." Haku said softly before turning her back to Reiko and heading back to her basket. 'She knows that I know that she's a Kunoichi…and she doesn't want a fight!' Reiko thought with astonishment as the older girl turned her back to Reiko.

Reiko drew a Kunai from her hip holster, causing Haku to momentarily stiffen. "I'll help you, if you don't mind. That herb, right?" Reiko said pointed to a similar plant that was in Haku's basket. Haku let out a soft sigh of relief and nodded, "Yes, that's the one. But please be careful! The Spines on it are rather sharp!" Both girls decided to keep the pretense of ignorance as they went about collecting herbs. Reiko asked if this herb would help an acquaintance of hers recover, since he was injured in a battle not too long ago and Haku hesitantly nodded.

Haku didn't want to help the enemy, but fighting this close to the city would be hazardous for her. Oh, she had no doubt she could kill the Genin, but the resulting battle would alert the Genin's Jonin Sensei and she figured that she wouldn't be able to survive that encounter.

After they collected a sufficient amount of herbs, Haku thanked Reiko for her help. "May I ask…what you were doing all the way out here, Reiko-san?" Haku asked pleasantly as she started to stand up, herb basket in hand. "Relaxing. The Lead Team's Jonin decided my team could use a bit of a break and I wanted to get away from that awfully stuffy house. It's nice here so I eventually fell asleep." Reiko simply replied as she kept the amount of information to a minimum.

"I see. It's amazing that someone as young as you is a Ninja. You must be very strong." Haku complimented the girl, earning a weak smile from Reiko. "I'm…pretty strong, yeah…but not strong enough." Reiko said darkly.

"But you look plenty strong already. Why is it that you want to become stronger…?" Haku said cautiously as her hand tightened around her little knife as she prepared to kill the girl if she gave the wrong answer. "I lost my…brother to a rogue Ninja because I wasn't strong enough to protect him. I lost a father figure to the same Rogue Ninja because I wasn't strong enough to protect him either. I need to become stronger to protect the few remaining people I _do_ care about!" Reiko said shakily, not noticing the trained rigidness in Haku's form.

Haku's slender shoulders slumped slightly at Reiko's sad answer before hesitantly reaching out to squeeze the younger girls shoulder in a comforting manner. "I see…I'm sorry to hear about your loss…but to become stronger to protect those precious to you…is very admirable! After all…When a person has something important to protect…that's when they truly become strong…at least, that's what I believe."

"Thank you for your words, Haku-san. I think…you're right about what makes someone truly strong too…"

"Well, I must be going now…Let's meet again somewhere, shall we?" Haku said over her shoulder as she turned to walk away. "It's a date then!" Reiko said with a grin before blinking, "Um…It sounds like a plan, I mean…" She corrected quickly, causing Haku to giggle.

A few yards away, Haku turned and looked at Reiko before speaking, "Oh, and Reiko-san? I'm a boy." She said with a soft smirk. "Bullshit" Came Reiko's immediate reply. "My nose here can tell the difference between a boy and a girl." She revealed, causing Haku's eyes to widen slightly. If what Reiko said was true, then should they meet on the field of battle, then Reiko would be able to identify her. The fact that Reiko said her last name was Inoue and _not_ Inuzuka confused Haku before she shrugged it off.

"I-I see…Hehe…You called me on that bluff…Anyways, Have a good day, Reiko-san" Haku waved as she once again started to walk off, her eyes a bit hard as she thought over her options on what to do with Reiko. She didn't want to harm such a seemingly nice girl.

"You too, Haku-_chan_" Reiko said with a smirk before she too turned to walk off back to her respective location.

**

* * *

**

**Tazuna's Home. Two days Later.**

Kakashi was on the floor alternating between sit ups and pushups with Tazuna and Sakura watching him off to the side of the wall as Kakashi slowly brought himself back up to shape. "I wanted to ask you this the other day but…I was afraid too…" Tazuna spoke up suddenly, causing Kakashi to pause in his work outs. "But…why are you still here when I lied about this mission?"

With a grunt Kakashi stood up and faced Tazuna, his expression serious, "To abandon your duty is not Courageous. Below the Courageous there is nothing. Those are the words of the previous Hokage and _that_ is the way of the Shinobi. We don't simply move for money alone." Kakashi said as he clenched and unclenched his right hand. 'Just about back to normal…That probably mean's Zabuza is nearly healed as well.' The Silver haired Jonin thought darkly.

"Tazuna, you'll need to be very careful the next couple of days…and do _not_ go anywhere without a Team with you." Tazuna paled at Kakashi's firm warning, he opened his mouth to ask Kakashi why, but his mouth was dry as he realized that Kakashi was expecting a serious attack soon. "There _will_ be an attack soon." Kakashi said easily figuring out Tazuna's unasked question, "Zabuza will most likely come back for round two. Though with Kurenai-san and her Team here…Him and his remaining Ninja will die here in Wave." Kakashi promised darkly causing Tazuna to smile grimly. It was Them or Him…and he really preferred Him to walk away alive.

Team 7 and Team 8 were gathered around the Dining Room table along with Tazuna and Tsunami as the two civilians listened as the Konoha Nin discussed strategies for best protecting Tazuna and by proxy, his family. Now that they had the Man power, it was decided that Kiba, Sakura and Shino would stay behind to protect Tsunami and Inari from any attempts on the family.

Kurenai wasn't happy about breaking up the Teams but the VIP, Tazuna, needed a more reliable defense from cooler headed and combat reliable Genin. Since Kiba wasn't coolheaded and Sakura fainting twice…They were be a liability. The only reason Hinata was chosen was for her eyes. Kakashi deemed them invaluable in seeing threats long before they got into attack range.

Tazuna spoke up at the end of the 'meeting', "The Bridge is almost done…We're a little over a week ahead of Schedule due to your constant presence on the bridge and around the village. Seeing so many Konoha Ninja around…has really picked up the spirits of the City." That little bit of unexpected news caused the Genin to grin. Even Sasuke couldn't help but let his lips twitch up slightly. Inari watched quietly, glaring at the Ninja from a door way and hating them for their optimism. Didn't they know that if they tried playing Hero's to the people of wave that they would just die?

Memories of Kaiza and what he meant to him started to bubble up uncontrollably and soon Inari started to cry, his small body shaking in rage. Both Reiko and Kiba turned his direction at once, picking up the unique smell of tears. It was then Inari's bottled up emotions needed an outlet. "Why do you guys try so hard? Don't you know that no matter what you do, you're still no match for Gatou's men! You're all weak and when the weak face the strong…They only end up getting killed!" Inari screamed at the top of his lungs, hurting the eardrums of everyone in the room.

Reiko sighed with exasperation and sent a cold look at the child, "We're nothing like _you_, kid. So don't you dare compare us." She said sharply. She knew her limitations, this brat did not. "W-what the hell do you know about me! Nothing! I'm different from you! You're always acting friendly and nice! You don't know how hard life can be! None of you do!" Inari ranted.

The temperature of the room dropped considerably, causing the Jonin to look towards Reiko. Both Jonin knew how badly she was treated when Naruto was still alive, treated just barely a step above dirt and they both knew that Inari's words must've struck a chord inside the Redhead.

"I don't know anything about how hard life can be?" Reiko questions softly before letting out a shrill laugh that shocked the younger boy. "I know _exactly_ how harsh life can be. Probably better than most…but do you see _me_ crying all day long? No you don't. So go on! Keep on crying forever! Keep on being the _weakling that you are!_" Reiko hissed, shocking the stunned young boy. "So don't get in the way of those who know how to stand up for themselves."

"R-Reiko! That's enough!" Sakura gasped in horror at the other girls' outburst before flinching as Reiko turned her cold, cruel gaze to her. Sakura seemed to shrink unto herself at Reiko's expression. Inari ground his teeth together before taking the opportunity to head off onto the porch to get away from the mean Redhead.

Kurenai shared a look with Kakashi before getting up to talk with Inari. It was her Genin that said those things, so she might as well handle it. "Inari? Can I join you?" Kurenai asked gently before taking his lack of a response as a 'Yes'. "Reiko…didn't mean any harm with what she said…But her life hasn't been very kind to her either." Kurenai paused as she watched Inari tuck his knees up to his chest before hugging them.

"Tazuna-san told us about your dad…and like you, Reiko also grew up either hers." Inari sharply looked up at Kurenai and noticed that the older woman was smiling weakling. "She…never knew her parents and the only person she had was…her brother and an Academy Teacher that was a father-figure to her. She's also had to watch those two people get murdered in front of her. So, the truth is, she's had a much rougher past then you. But, _I've_ never seen her complain about it. Cry? Yes. But she's always pushed herself to move forward." Inari stared silently at Kurenai before widening his eyes in shock as Kurenai spoke about what she knew of Reiko's life before hanging his head in shame as he realized he probably shouldn't have said what he did.

"Reiko probably understands your feelings better than anyone else here due to her hardships. Reiko might not act like it, but she's actually a very kind girl despite all the things she's been through. I didn't want you to think too badly of my student…anyways, I hope you have a good night." Kurenai said gently as she reached out to gently squeeze Inari's shoulder before she stood up and walked back inside.

The next morning Tazuna left, with Kakashi and his modified Team, to head to the bridge. Kurenai would be staying behind at the house for the purposes of being Team Kakashi's backup. The Genin would stay with Tazuna's family even if she should need to leave, since the chances of a strong opponent coming to round up a couple of civilians were slim to none.

"Wha…What the hell is this?" Tazuna screamed as he looked at the bodies of his men strewn across the bridge. They didn't appear to be dead given the amount of blood on the bridge, or lack thereof. One of the bodies groaned prompting Tazuna to rush over to the downed man. "What happened here? Tell me!" The injured man coughed softly before speaking, "M-Monster…big…sword…" He groaned out causing Kakashi to narrow his eyes in thought. "Hinata, Byakugan now!" He ordered.

**

* * *

**

Meanwhile at Tazuna's house, Kurenai noted the approach of two people outside of the house and also noted that they either weren't Ninja or exceptionally skilled at hiding their Chakra, which she doubted. Kurenai stood off to the side, signaling the Genin to follow as they waited out of the kitchen while Tsunami was washing dishes. The Jonin resisted the urge to sigh as the front door was suddenly hacked to pieces, revealing two simple thugs. Tsunami whirled around in surprise and let out a surprised shriek.

Kurenai was about to make a move when Inari suddenly rushed into the room shouting for his mom. "G-Get away!" Tsunami shouted to her son, wondering when the Ninja in her house would make their move. "Should we take him too?" The Thug with an eye patch over his right eye side. "No, we only need one Hostage" Replied the other. Eyepatch started to laugh cruelly as he unsheathed his sword. "So I get to kill the brat then?"

Tsunami shot a look over to Kurenai as the two thugs were looking at Inari as they decided what they were going to do to him. Kurenai winked at Tsunami and motioned with her hand to go on as if they weren't there. The Jonin was glad Tsunami took the hint. "Wait! If you touch my child…I'll bite my tongue off and kill myself! You do want a hostage, don't you?" Tsunami glared at the attackers.

"Tch, I wanted to cut something…" Eyepatch said in disgust. "Oh, Give it a rest; You just cut the damn door to pieces. Grab the woman and lets go…" His partner said humorlessly. Inari watched the scene and clenched his hands as he shook in rage, hating himself for his weakness. Reiko's words from the other day about being weak and not standing up for himself flashed across thoughts. 'They're all so strong and…brave…' Inari thought as tears pooled up in his eyes.

Kurenai was just about to act when Inari let out an angered roar and charged the two thugs after they turned their back to him to focus on his mom. Both thugs at the roar and their hands flew to their swords with practiced ease. "Magen: Jubaku Satsu" Came a voice from off the side and the two thugs suddenly found that they couldn't move.

"W-What this hell is this!" Eyepatch's partner yelled as what appeared to be a tree suddenly grew from the floor and started to bind them with its branches. "G-Genjutsu? How! There aren't any Ninja here!" Eyepatch roared in fear as the both of them struggled against the branches. Since they didn't use chakra themselves all they could do was struggle helplessly. "If you looked in the side room, you would've seen a _Team_ of Ninja here." Kurenai stated with exasperation as she walked into view. It never ceased to amaze her how stupid thugs were.

Inari took the moment to run to his mother and run into her arms, figuring that the Ninja lady had everything under control now. "You were very brave, thank you!" Tsunami said softly as she hugged her son and shot an appreciative look at Kurenai, knowing that it was her student that spurred Inari to act like that.

The two Thugs begged Kurenai to release them, promising they would leave and never come back, causing Kurenai to roll her eyes. Just what did those two morons think she was? A newborn? Kurenai formed a hand seal and the illusion suddenly started to pull the two thugs into the 'trees'. Their screams drew the attention of Tsunami and Inari as they watched as the two Thugs kept screaming in horror…until they were oddly silent and limp. "D-did you…?" Tsunami hesitantly asked, forgetting that Kurenai was a Ninja…and that Ninja's were killers. "Yes." Kurenai said with a nod. "Letting them live…would've been foolish. They might've come back in the future once we had left…and what would you do then?"

Tsunami gulped and nodded slowly in understanding. They wouldn't be able to defend themselves against two armed thugs like that without the Ninja's help again. "Kiba, Shino…Take the bodies out of here." "S-Sure thing, Kurenai-sensei…" Kiba said nervously. He'd never seen someone kill somebody else without touching them.

**

* * *

**

"Byakugan!" Hinata cried out just as Mist began to roll in. "Ten water clone's moving to surround us on all sides! Two _people_ are approaching from the front!" She muttered softly. "So he really is here…" Kakashi muttered and noted that the Genin had already taken up formation around Tazuna, keeping the VIP in the middle of them.

"Been a while hasn't it, Kakashi? Oh? And what's this? New Brats? No matter…you're all going to die anyways. And look, that kid is shaking again, Poor kid" Zabuza taunted the team, specifically Sasuke. "I'm shaking from excitement!" Sasuke yelled back with a thin smirk.

"Sasuke…Do it." Kakashi simply said as the water clones dropped down all around them. Just as the clones where about to move, Sasuke seemed to blur as the water clones suddenly exploded in a haze of water and Sasuke reappeared his exact spot in the formation. Two Kunai spinning rapidly in his hands. Reiko looked decidedly unimpressed at Sasuke actions, to her; it was to be expect of the Genin of the Year to be able to take down _clones_ of all things.

"To be able to see through the water clones…the brat has grown." Zabuza said before tilting his head slightly to look at his Hunter-Nin masked partner while keeping an eye on the Ninja in front of him. "It looked like a rival has appeared for you, Haku" He said softly so only Haku could hear. "Him? Not likely. I'm more concerned about the Redhead." She murmured causing Zabuza to raise an eyebrow at her but didn't ask.

"Well this proves the masked one is obviously Zabuza's comrade…" Kakashi muttered as an afterthought. "I'll fight him!" Sasuke said seriously while sending a menacing glare at Haku. "Stupid bastard, tricking us with that act…I hate pretentious fools like that the most!" Sasuke spat as he took a single step forward.

"I'll admit that he _is_ an impressive young man…to take down ten water clones that easily even though they only have a tenth of the strength of the original…" Haku conceded and was answered from a grunt by Zabuza before he gave her a small flick of his fingers, signaling her to go. Haku suddenly vanished in a swirl, causing Sasuke to bite his lip. He barely managed to parry Haku's Senbon as she reappeared next to him in a swirl. "Damn it!" Sasuke cursed to himself as the Kunai and Senbon screeched as they made contact.

Both Sasuke and Haku fought for dominance as they pushed their respective weapons together, each one hoping to overpower the other. Reiko was about to leap forward and take advantage of Haku's opening, but Kakashi's hand on her shoulder stopped her so she shot him a questioning look. "That's not very fair, Reiko. This is Sasuke's fight at the moment." Both Team 8 Genin couldn't help but send Kakashi a look of shock, not believing that he just said something like that. They were _Ninja's_ for god's sake! They didn't fight fair! And Kurenai-sensei taught them that Kunoichi _especially_ did _not_ fight fair! "Take Tazuna and get back, you two." Begrudgingly both Genin nodded and guided Tazuna away from Sasuke and Haku.

"I don't want to have to kill you…But you won't stand down, will you?" Haku said softly as she held up a hand sign in front of her, something which Sasuke didn't notice. "Don't be foolish" He said with a grin as he pushed himself away from Haku. "I see…But you won't be able to keep up with me next time…Plus you've already given me the advantage." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her words and tensed himself for an attack.

With one hand still on her Senbon, her free hand began flying through handseals. Sasuke's eyes widened at the sight as he gritted his teeth as he realized that the Masked-Nin might just be out of his league. "Sensatsu Suisho" Haku cried out as the water on the ground suddenly shot into the air and formed needles. They hovered there for a moment before shooting towards Sasuke with lethal precision.

'Concentrate…Contratrate…My chakra…to the Legs!' Sasuke thought desperately before, "Now!" He cried as he lunched himself up into the air after pumping his legs full of chakra. He barely missed getting skewered by the needles, some coming close enough to gauge the bottom of his sandals. Haku was suddenly forced to jump back a few times to avoid the barrage of Shuriken that Sasuke launched at her before he landed behind her, a kunai held reverse grip as he swung his arm to swiftly impale her on it.

Haku lunged forward, slamming her wrist into his to stop his Kunai short; before she was forced to duck as he flicked the Kunai at her mask. 'He's fast!' Haku thought quickly as she saw his leg already cocked back to kick her in the face as she ducked the first attack. 'Damn it!' She cried to herself as the kick connected with her mask, sending her flying head over heels.

"You shouldn't be underestimating my Genin by calling them 'brats.' Sasuke is Konoha's number one rookie." Kakashi said from the sidelines, causing Reiko to glare at Kakashi. She knew for a fact that _she _was the Villages top Genin for her year. None of her fellows could say they killed a Chunin within twenty-four hours of receiving their Hitai'ate. So Kakashi's blatant ego stroking of the Uchiha, stung her pride a little bit, but she kept her mouth shut.

Everyone's gaze, except Haku's turned to Zabuza as he started to chuckle. "Haku…you realize that at this rate we'll be driven back." Sasuke's head whipped around as he suddenly as a chill suddenly enveloped him. 'What the hell is going on?' Sasuke thought as his gaze looked on Haku as she once against formed some hand seals. "Makyo Hyosho!" Haku called at as the water once again lift off the ground but solidified into a dome of Ice Mirrors. Sasuke shivered at the coldness the Mirrors radiated.

'Hyoton!' Kakashi gasped in surprise, 'Reports said that Kiri had exterminated that bloodline! Getting her back to Konoha alive...would do me _very_ well' Kakashi thought as he narrowed his eyes in thought. Bring the last _known_ survivor of the Yuki Clan would put him back in the Hokage's good graces _and_ the Councils.

Haku leapt at the Mirrors and sank into one of them, causing Hinata to gasp loudly in surprise. "T-The mirrors…I can't tell where that Ninja is! It's like…he's in each and every one!" "Sensei…I think Sasuke need's help now!" Reiko said as she prepared herself to rush forward. "No. Sasuke will be fine. He's the Top Rookie after all." Kakashi said, ignoring Reiko's desire to help her fellow Nin as she watched Sasuke as he stood in the middle of the dome, eyes flicking between each of the mirrors.

"I think it's time we settled things, Kakashi." Zabuza called out, ripping Kakashi's gaze from the Ice Dome. "Yes…I think you're right. You're bounty will more then cover the costs of this mission" Kakashi replied darkly.

"Forgive me. I didn't want to kill you." Haku said from inside the mirrors as she raised a Senbon up in front of her. "Goodbye, Genin of Konoha." She said just as she let dozens of Senbon fly at Sasuke from each of the mirrors. Sasuke cried loudly in pain as he tried his best to avoid the hail of razor sharp needles. He could feel them nicking his arms, legs, sides and face and even sinking into his body. "Sensei!" Reiko yelled in anger as she gritted her teeth. That stupid son of a bitch was going to get his student killed!

With a groan Sasuke forced himself to stand back up, pulling out a few offending Senbon's from his body. "You did good to dodge quite a few of my Senbon…but you should've stayed down." Haku spoke softly, urging the Genin to just stay down. 'If these made mirrors are made of ice, then…' Sasuke thought as he glared at the mirrors. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Sasuke roared as he exhaled a huge ball of fire at an Ice mirror.

Sasuke was silently hoping that that attack would work since it took a large amount of his Chakra to let loose an attack of that magnitude. He winced as the fire cleared, revealing the mirrors to be perfectly untouched. "Damn it!" He cursed as his attack was ineffective. "That level of attack cant melt this Ice." Haku stated obviously before letting loose another hail of Senbon. 'How is he attacked from all angles like that! Is he using Bunshin?' Sasuke thought through the immense pain.

"I don't want to have to kill you, Genin of Konoha. Nor do I want you to have to kill me…but if you come at me, I'll destroy my kind heart and strike you down where you stand." Haku said in her softest most pleading tone. "Having you here, right now, endangers the person I wish to protect. So I will kill you if it keeps that person safe, if it helps him achieve his dreams…" Haku trailed off as she looked down at Sasuke.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he overheard the Masked-Nin's face, 'Against someone like that…Sasuke doesn't stand a chance…I'll need to end this quickly!' He thought as he revealed his Sharingan again. "Hehe, The Sharingan again? Is that the only thing you can do?" Zabuza taunted as he rushed forward, Kunai in hand to try stopping Kakashi before he could completely lift his Hitai'ate up.

"No this isn't all I can do…But I know that you're afraid of the Sharingan, Zabuza" Kakashi said as he blocked the Kunai with his hand, not even wincing as it pieced it. "A Shinobi's supreme technique shouldn't be showed to an opponent over and over!" Zabuza growled as he pushed the Kunai deeper into Kakashi's hand. "You're the only person to see it twice…but there won't be a third time. You die here." "Heh, even if you _can_ defeat me, you can't win against Haku." Zabuza arrogantly stated.

Zabuza began to tell Kakashi about how Haku was the perfect tool and how his skills in Jutsu surpassed even his own, he was about to go on when Kakashi interrupted him. "There's nothing as boring as a man's bragging. So…I'm going to end this!" Kakashi yelled as he whipped out a scroll from one of his pouches and smeared the blood from his cut hand on it. "Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!" Kakashi yelled as he slammed the scroll into the ground.

Zabuza tensed as he stared at Kakashi before laughing loudly. "Ha! What the hell was that? Did the Great Copy Nin screw up a summoning? How pathetic!" Zabuza spat at Kakashi, "Now, I know how to defeat your Sharingan! Kiri-grahh!" Zabuza cried out in pain as _dogs_ of all things came out from the ground, two of which latched onto his ankles and interrupting his Jutsu. Just as he was about to grab one of the mutts to rip it off, another came up from the ground and bit that arm. Yet another dog came up and bit him on his right side and finally a massive bulldog with a huge spiked collar came up and bit onto his left shoulder while its front paws clamped down around Zabuza's arms.

Zabuza's mind raced as he thought over the Jutsu Kakashi had used and realized his mistake. Kakashi's Jutsu might've been a _Summoning_ Jutsu but it was also a _Doton_ jutsu. "Damn it all!" Zabuza roared angrily at Kakashi as he tried throwing the dogs off of him, but failing to do so. "I told you this would end here; Zabuza…Your future is Death." Kakashi muttered as he slowly started to walk towards the Ex-Mist Nin with his right hand help out in front of him, as if he was holding a bowl from the bottom.

While the confrontation between Zabuza and Kakashi was occurring, Tazuna watched Reiko as she shook with anger at not receiving the order to help Sasuke, as much as she hated him, he was still a fellow Ninja…and saving the Councils Golden Boy would help her reputation _a lot_. "Go…Go help your teammate. I'm sure Hinata-san here can protect me well enough." Tazuna said, surprising Reiko. The Redhead shot him an appreciative grin before nodding and rushing off towards the dome of ice.

Haku, distracted by what was happening to Zabuza, missed Reiko's approach until she heard the redhead yell to her teammate, "Sasuke! Get down now!" Reiko cried out as she sent a half a dozen Kunai flying at the dome. Each kunai had a piece of paper streaming behind it. 'Kunai? Those wont wor—No! Exploding Tags!' Haku's eyes widened from behind her mask. Just before the Kunai reached three of the Ice mirrors, Reiko formed the Snake hand seal, causing the explosive tags to detonate as one and in the process, shattering two of the ice mirrors while heavily damaging the third.

Reiko was hoping to take out more mirrors with her six explosive notes but she had to settle for the two as she reached Sasuke. "You ok?" She asked him, never taking her eyes off the mirror that contained the Masked-Nin. "Yeah, I'll be fine." He said fairly loudly, his ear drums ringing from being so close to six exploding tags. He made a mental note to remember the explosive power of Exploding Tags for next time.

"Reiko-san…please do not get involved. I don't want to hurt you! Had we met under different circumstances, I would've liked for us to become friends…and because of that, I don't want to fight you! Please…Please just leave!" Haku pleaded as she step out from inside her mirror, causing Reiko's eyes to widen greatly. She had suspected that Haku was the other Chunin but she couldn't have been sure…but this proved it. The water had also washed away Haku's scent from the area so Reiko hadn't been able to pick it up earlier.

"Haku-_chan_?…I figured you were a Shinobi, but I had hoped that you weren't the remaining Chunin with Zabuza but…it was too much of a coincidence that we met here in Wave of all places…" Reiko said as she dropped into a defensive stance with her left arm in front of her while her right was tucked back. "I don't really want to fight you either…but I can't let you harm a comrade. I'm sure you understand." Reiko received a nod in reply.

Sasuke watched the conversation in muted horror. Reiko apparently _knew_ this enemy Ninja, somehow. He wasn't sure what to make of it and suddenly he wondered if Reiko could be trusted, but he shook that thought off as quickly as it came to existence because he _knew_ Reiko couldn't have known this Ninja before the mission…after all, they've been in the Academy together pretty much half their life. He'd have to ask his redheaded teammate after the mission as to how she knew the enemy.

Zabuza stared levelly at Kakashi as he spoke, "My future is death? I'm sick of your bullshit..." He knew he was in trouble with the dogs grappling onto his body. If there had been just two or three dogs, he could've shaken them off…but there was more than _six_ attached to him. The chances were slim that he would be walking away from this. "We both know that there's nothing you can do in this situation…Your death was certain the moment you allied yourself with scum like Gatou." Kakashi said as he gripped his right arm. Lightening started to crackle in his hands, growing louder and louder as his Jutsu gained strength.

Suddenly, Hinata's cry cut through the racket of Kakashi's Raikiri. "Sensei! There's a boat with _a lot_ of people heading here from the uncompleted portion of the bridge! None of them are Ninja, but there are a lot of them and they're all very well armed!"

"It would seem as if we have some unexpected guests…No Matter, you die now! Raikiri!" Kakashi yelled as he lunged forward to plunge the concentrated ball of lightning into Zabuza's chest. Haku saw what was about to happen and began forming another mirror, this one slowly forming to the immediate left of Zabuza. It didn't take a Genius to figure out Haku's plan. "No!" Reiko cried out as Haku lunged back toward her mirror. The Redhead wasn't going to let Haku kill herself for that lunatic.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion for Sasuke as he finally managed to activate his Sharingan, two tomoe in each eye. Had he not managed to activate it, he never would've seen Reiko's eyes suddenly turn to a blood red from her usual violet and form slits just before she lunged with an impossible burst of speed. Sasuke would have to ask Reiko about her eyes later on. Reiko managed to grab a hold of Haku's ankle and dig her feet into the ground before yanking the older girl out of her mirror. "No! Let me go!" Haku cried out as she watched in horror as Kakashi rammed his arm through the left side of Zabuza's chest. The Ice Mirror's came tumbling down due to the sudden emotional instability of their creator.

"Tch, so the so called demon got his ass kicked. How disappointing." The voice seemed to cut the air due to its sheer annoyingness. Kakashi slowly pulled his arm out of Zabuza, causing the latter to groan in pain before hacking up some blood, which stained the bandages covering his mouth. "G-Gatou…" Zabuza breathed hatefully. Kakashi dispelled the Summons and let Zabuza stagger around to face his employer. "Tch, you couldn't even kill him for me? Useless." Gatou murmured as he looked to Kakashi. "No matter, you'll all die here…well, maybe not the girls." Gatou said with a lewd grin.

The horde of men behind Gatou cheered at the insinuation. "Now that you're all tired from battling each other…killing you all off will be easy!" Gatou continued speaking as he looked over the bridge turned battlefield.

Sasuke staggered to his feet and Haku pushed herself off the ground. She would…speak her mind to Reiko later. But right now, after hearing what Gatou had in store for them, she could push her grief aside for the moment since Zabuza was still standing somehow.

"L-looks like this fight really is over, Kakashi…I have no reason to try to fight you now…" Zabuza said, coughing lightly and further staining the bandages around his face. He waved Haku over to him before slowly turning to her. "Haku…You've served me…well. It looks like…you finally made a friend…good for you. I'm glad that girl…stopped you. Both of us…didn't need to die here today…So my last…order to you is…Stay alive!" Zabuza panted heavily as he started to struggle to get his words out.

"This so-called…demon is going to kill you, Gatou! Even if it's the last thing I do!" Zabuza roared as he pulled his sword out from behind his back and let the blade fall to the ground with a clang. Slowly he started towards the horde of armed thugs, before gaining into a brisk jog as blood poured from his wound. The blade of his sword left an almost demonic wail as it screeched along the ground. "W-What are you all doing! Kill him!" Gatou roared as he turned to flee deeper into the crowd.

Zabuza plowed into the crowd, swinging his sword haphazardly and cutting dozens in half with each swing of his massive blade. But the numbers were simply overwhelming and he took hit after hit, some of the weapons getting stuck in him as he cut their owners down. Finally he reached his objective, reached Gatou and with one last mighty roar, Zabuza swung his sword for the last time and decapitated the short man. "Heh…See you in Hell, Gatou…" Zabuza muttered just as his last breath left him and he collapsed to the ground.

Haku watched the scene, sobbing heavily behind her mask as she collapsed onto her knees, but she never looked away. She was determined to watch Zabuza's last moments and heed his dying wish. After Zabuza fell, Haku spared a quick fleeting glance at the Konoha Nin and noticed none of them looked away. In fact, they all seemed to be standing straighter in some sort of unspoken salute to the fallen Zabuza. Haku realized that they didn't this, knowingly or unknowingly, because they witnessed the Death of a Living Legend. At least Zabuza wouldn't be forgotten…not by them.

The Horde in front of them looked pissed as the turned to look at the remaining Ninja. "You sonsa bitches! You killed our meal ticket!" "We're gonna fucking kill you guys!" "Let's get them!" Came the numerous cries from the horde, causing the Ninja's to tense up. Just as the Horde was about to charge, a few dozen arrows landed down in front of them, breaking them of their tunnel vision on the Ninjas. The sudden appearance of the Villagers made them pause.

"Kakashi-sensei, you ok? Chakra wise…?" Reiko tentatively asked. "No, not really. The Raikiri, Summon's and Sharingan took too much out of me." "I see…" Came Reiko's soft reply. "Well, at least I'm still fresh…I can make a few dozen Kage Bunshin or so to bolster the Villagers numbers…" She continued, causing Kakashi to chuckle. "Good idea, Reiko. I'm sure I can make a few myself too.." "Kage Bunshin!" Came the dual cries of Kakashi and Reiko and suddenly there was a solid wall of clones between the Villagers and the Thugs.

"So…You want some of this!" Kakashi, or one of his clones, yelled darkly at the thugs. The thugs were extremely unnerved by the sight and started to turn tail and flee back down to their boat. I took less than five minutes for the horde to clear off the bridge, leaving their dead behind, in their frantic effort to get away from the Ninja's.

Reiko took the moment to turn to Haku. "Haku…Look, I'm sorry about stopping you…I just acted on impulse. I didn't want to see you die…" "Reiko…san. It's alright…Zabuza-sama didn't want me to die here…so Thank you…" Haku replied as she sniffled. She wanted so badly to grieve right now, but now wasn't the time. Reiko blinked at the unexpected 'Thank you' and simply smiled weakly at Haku.

**

* * *

**

**Two Weeks Later.**

The Bridge was finally complete and all the repairs completed that occurred to it during the brief skirmish on it. Tazuna's village looked full of life with its completion, truly full of life. At the completion, Tazuna wanted to name the bridge to Honor Konoha, for sticking it out with him and helping him and his village become free of Gatou's tyranny. In the end, the Konoha Team's gave Tazuna the idea to name the bridge for what it was, a Bridge of True Hope.

Reiko had eventually asked Haku what happened to the three Genin Zabuza was supposed to have with him, causing Haku to shrug. She didn't know but figured that they ran away…probably because they didn't want to share the fate of the Demon Brothers.

Haku and Reiko stood next to each other as they overlooked Zabuza's grave. It was the last day the Konoha Teams would be in Wave before heading back to Konoha. "What're you going to do now, Haku?" Reiko asked the older girl softly. "I'm…not sure. I always followed Zabuza and now…" Haku trailed off as she hung her head low in sadness. "Why not come to Konoha with me then? Erm...I mean with Team 8!" Reiko quickly said with a light blush. She really needed to get over her issue with other, cute, girls. The fact she had developed a bit of a crush on the older girl over the last two weeks didn't help her any.

"I…pretty much have the Ear of the Hokage, so I'm sure I can get you into the Village that way! This way…Hatake-san can't claim the credit for bringing you into the Village! If you choose to come..." Reiko said softly, silently hoping the older girl would return to Konoha with them. "I think…I would like that, returning with you _and_ the Rest of Team 8. You guys have become my…friends over these last two weeks…and you've helped me get over Zabuza's passing." Haku said as she stared down at the younger and shorter girl. "Great!" Reiko said happily before Haku said her goodbyes to Zabuza and headed back into town with Reiko.

'Bringing a Bloodline back to Konoha, 'saving' the Council's Golden boy…Yes, this has been a very beneficial trip!' Reiko thought to herself as she stared at Haku. **"Don't forget you made a new friend. Someone else who will give you the acceptance and attention you desire~"** Hisa added in as she smiled to herself. Little Reiko appeared to be slowly building her powerbase, it made Hisa proud.

**

* * *

**

AN: Stay tuned for the Chunin Exams (and then some!) occurring next chapter in: **Chapter 6: A Secret Lost, A Betrayal Revealed!**

**Graphic Content Warning for Chapter 6! Chapter 6 will be the REASON this Fanfic is M Rated.** I thought you would like a little warning. Detailed warnings will be in the Next chapters AN.

Remember to check my profile to see when the approximate release date for the Next chapters! If you have any questions, Send me a PM or ask in a Review.

Also if you see any Grammar errors that make the flow of the story difficult let me know by copying that section of text into a Review of PM and I'll get around to fixing it!

The flashbackish scene was requested by a few people (over PM's) so I tried meshing it in as best I could. It's not a true flashback due to the lack of details in it…more like a gleaming of a memory to show you what lead up to the change.

SR&D* = Search, Rescue, and Destroy.

Word Count: 15,210

Date/Time Completed: 1/18/2011 5:12AM MST

Signed,

Kit the (Sorry for the Delay) Fiendish Fire Cat~!


End file.
